MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2001 Regular Session

To: Public Health and Welfare; Appropriations

By: Senator(s) Smith, Burton, King, Dearing, Chaney, Dawkins, Johnson (19th), Hamilton, Gollott, Carmichael, Minor

AN ACT RELATING TO CHILDREN; TO ESTABLISH A MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN'S AFFAIRS; TO CREATE AND EMPOWER A BOARD OF CHILDREN'S AFFAIRS AND A JOINT LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE; TO CREATE THE POSITION OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN'S AFFAIRS AND PRESCRIBE HIS DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES; TO AMEND SECTION 43-27-2, AND TO CODIFY SECTIONS 43-27-4 AND 43-27-6, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO TRANSFER THE POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIVISION OF YOUTH SERVICES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO THE NEWLY CREATED MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN'S AFFAIRS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-27-8, 43-27-10, 43-27-11, 43-27-12, 43-27-14, 43-27-16, 43-27-17, 43-27-18, 43-27-19, 43-27-20, 43-27-22, 43-27-23, 43-27-25, 43-27-27, 43-27-29 AND 43-21-159, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-1-1, 43-1-2, 43-1-5, 43-1-6, 43-1-51 AND 43-1-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO TRANSFER THE POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIVISION OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO THE NEWLY CREATED MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN'S AFFAIRS, AND TO EXTEND THE AUTOMATIC REPEALER ON THE STATUTES CREATING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES; TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-16-3, 43-16-5, 43-16-7, 43-16-9, 43-16-21, 43-16-25, 43-20-5, 43-20-7, 43-20-11, 43-20-12, 43-20-13, 43-20-14, 43-20-53, 43-20-55, 43-20-57, 43-20-59, 43-20-61, 43-20-63, 43-20-65, 75-74-3, 75-74-7, 75-74-8, 75-74-9, 75-74-11, 75-74-17 AND 75-74-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO TRANSFER THE REGULATION OF CHILD RESIDENTIAL HOMES, CHILD CARE DAY FACILITIES, FAMILY CHILD CARE HOMES AND YOUTH CAMPS FROM THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH TO THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN'S AFFAIRS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-15-3, 43-15-5, 43-15-6, 43-15-7, 43-15-11, 43-15-13, 43-15-15, 43-15-17, 43-15-19, 43-15-23, 43-15-103, 43-15-105, 43-17-5, 43-18-5, 43-21-105, 43-21-257, 43-21-261, 43-21-315, 43-21-353, 43-21-354, 43-21-357, 43-21-405, 43-21-603, 43-21-605, 43-21-607, 43-21-609, 43-21-613, 43-21-623 AND 43-21-625, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 43-27-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-2. (1) From and after July 1, 2002, there is hereby created the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, with powers, duties and functions provided in this act.

(2) Through the Department of Children's Affairs, the State of Mississippi government, in cooperation with youth courts, local communities, schools and families will strive to provide timely, appropriate and cost-effective services for children in state custody and at risk of entering state custody so that these children can reach their full potential as productive, competent and healthy adults. The department is created to provide services to those children who are unruly, delinquent, dependent and neglected, and their respective families, as well as for children who are at imminent risk and in need of services to prevent entry into state custody, who are in state custody pending family reunification or other permanent placement, or as otherwise may be required for such children and their families pursuant to state law. The focus of the services shall be to preserve the relationship between the child and the family by providing, whenever possible, services in the community where the child lives and by providing the services in a setting which is the least restrictive and, yet, the most beneficial. The department will work to preserve the safety and protect the standards in Mississippi communities through efforts to combat delinquency and other social ills concerning young people. The department shall work to continuously improve the management and coordination of services for the children and families of Mississippi.

(3) Effective July 1, 2002, all employees of the agencies, divisions, offices and programs whose functions are transferred under this act shall be transferred to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs. Administrative Divisions of the Department of Human Services to be transferred include the following: (a) the Division of Youth Services; (b) the Division of Family and Children's Services; and (c) the Office for Children and Youth. All such transfers shall be in accordance with the rules and regulations of the State Personnel Board.

(4) Child care services and staff administered by the Office of Children and Youth within the Mississippi Department of Human Services, regardless of funding source, including federal Child Care Development Block Grant funds, at-risk child care funds, Child Care Partnership Grant programs and other training programs and consumer education programs for parents, but not including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) child care funds, shall be transferred to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs on July 1, 2002.

(5) It is the intent of the Legislature that no employee shall be dismissed as the result of the agency reorganization required by this act, and that any reduction in the number of persons employed by the state shall result from attrition of employees and not dismissal.

(6) On July 1, 2002, all records, real and personal property and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations or other funds of the agencies, divisions, offices and programs transferred by this act shall be transferred to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(7) There is hereby created a Department of Human Services Reorganization Study Committee for the purpose of assisting the orderly transition for full implementation of this act. The membership of the committee shall include the following: the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services; the State Health Officer; the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health; the Executive Director of the Division of Medicaid; two (2) youth court judges appointed by the Governor; two (2) representatives of child residential facilities appointed by the Governor; the Chairman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee; the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; three (3) members of the Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor; the Chairman of the House Public Health and Welfare Committee; the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; and three (3) members of the House appointed by the Speaker of the House. The Chairman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and the Chairman of the House Public Health and Welfare Committee shall serve as co-chairmen of the committee until July 1, 2002, at which time the Study Committee shall be dissolved and the Joint Oversight Committee of the Department of Children's Affairs shall assume its duties and responsibilities. The Department of Human Services Reorganization Study Committee shall, with the assistance of the Executive Director of the Department of Human Services and the affected division directors, develop and oversee the implementation of a plan which will carry out the full effect of this act in an orderly fashion. All agencies and divisions of agencies affected by the transfer required under this act are hereby directed to cooperate with the Department of Human Services Reorganization Study Committee in formulating and implementing a transition plan and program. The State Personnel Board and the Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) are directed to assist the committee in carrying out its oversight responsibilities. The Department of Human Services Reorganization Study Committee shall receive reports on the following: (a) staff to be transferred from one state agency or division to another in the implementation of new duties and responsibilities required under this act; (b) operating budget revisions and interim operating budgets as necessary for assuring an orderly transition in implementing new duties and responsibilities required under this act; (c) any additional cost or cost reduction resulting from this transition; and (d) rules, regulations and procedures to be adopted by agencies consistent with the intent of the transfer of duties and responsibilities required under this act. The Department of Human Services Reorganization Study Committee shall develop and submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on or before December 1, 2001, on its findings which shall include any recommendations for necessary legislation regarding the reorganization of state agency responsibilities provided under this act. The Department of Human Services Reorganization Study Committee shall meet on the call of the co-chairmen and shall adopt rules for carrying out its responsibilities. Legislative members of the committee shall receive compensation and expense reimbursement from their respective contingent expense funds authorized for attending committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session. This subsection (7) shall stand repealed on July 1, 2002.

SECTION 2. The following provision shall be codified as

Section 43-27-4, Mississippi Code of 1972:

43-27-4. (1) There shall be established a Board of Children's Affairs composed of seven (7) members who are qualified

electors appointed by the Governor and the State Superintendent of Education as an ex officio nonvoting member. The appointed members shall be composed of one (1) person who is an active, experienced educator; one (1) person who is an active licensed psychiatrist or psychologist; one (1) person who is an active member of the National Association of Social Workers; one (1) person who is experienced in business; one (1) person who is a practicing attorney; and two (2) persons who are concerned citizens interested in the youth of the state. Provided, however, there shall be at least one (1) member of said board from each of

the congressional districts of the State of Mississippi as existing on July 1, 2002, and two (2) appointed at large, with all appointments to be confirmed by the Senate. Terms of office

of the appointed members shall be as follows:

(a) The term of the member serving from the First Congressional District shall expire on June 30, 2003.

(b) The term of the member serving from the Second Congressional District shall expire on June 30, 2004.

(c) The term of the member serving from the Third

Congressional District shall expire on June 30, 2005.

(d) The term of the member serving from the Fourth Congressional District shall expire on June 30, 2006.

(e) The term of the member serving from the Fifth Congressional District shall expire on June 30, 2007.

(f) The terms of the two (2) members serving from the state at large shall expire on June 30, 2004, and June 30, 2006, respectively.

All subsequent appointments shall be for a term of six (6) years.

The Governor shall have the power to fill any vacancy which shall occur on said Board of Children's Affairs, provided that said vacancy shall be filled in the manner in which a member is selected for a full term, and that an appointment to fill such vacancy shall be for the unexpired term only.

(2) The Board of Children's Affairs shall meet and organize by electing one (1) of their number as chairman, whose term of office shall be one (1) year or until his successor shall be elected by the board and it shall transact such other business as may come before the board. The board shall have authority to elect any other officer from their number as they shall deem necessary to perform their duties, the term of such officer to be for one (1) year or until a successor shall be elected by the trustees.

(3) The Board of Children's Affairs shall meet once each month and such monthly meeting shall be known as a regular meeting, and at such regular meeting any business allowed or provided for by law may be transacted; and said Board of Children's Affairs shall meet at any other time at the call of the chairman, within his discretion, or at the request of three (3) members of the board. In the case of a called meeting, the call shall be in writing and shall be mailed by certified mail with return receipt requested to each and every member at least five (5) days prior to the date of such called meeting; at any such called meeting only such business as may be specifically stated in the notice thereof may be transacted. At any regular or called meeting, three (3) members of the Board of Youth Services shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. When any member of the Board of Children's Affairs fails to attend three (3) consecutive meetings, he shall be deemed to have automatically vacated his term of office, unless the Governor shall elect to retain said member, or the Governor may appoint another person in his place and stead for the remainder of the unexpired term.

(4) The board members shall serve without salary or compensation, but shall receive the per diem allowed public employees under Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for meetings of said board, together with actual travel expenses authorized by law. The expenses and per diem of the members of the board shall be paid on an itemized statement, approved by the chairman of the board, from funds appropriated to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(5) There shall be a Joint Oversight Committee of the Department of Children's Affairs composed of the respective Chairmen of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee, the House Public Health and Welfare Committee and the House Appropriations Committee, two (2) members of the Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve at the will and pleasure of the Lieutenant Governor, and two (2) members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House to serve at the will and pleasure of the Speaker. The chairmanship of the committee shall alternate for twelve-month periods between the Senate members and the House members, with the Chairman of the House Public Health and Welfare Committee serving as the first chairman. The committee shall meet once each month, or upon the call of the chairman at such times as he deems necessary or advisable, and may make recommendations to the Legislature pertaining to any matter within the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs. The appointing authorities may designate an alternate member from their respective houses to serve when the regular designee is unable to attend such meetings of the Oversight Committee. For attending meetings of the Oversight Committee, such legislators shall receive per diem and expenses which shall be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same amounts as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session; however, no per diem and expenses for attending meetings of the committee will be paid while the Legislature is in session. No per diem and expenses will be paid except for attending meetings of the Oversight Committee without prior approval of the proper committee in their respective houses.

SECTION 3. The following provision shall be codified as Section 43-27-6, Mississippi Code of 1972:

43-27-6. (1) The Board of Children's Affairs shall appoint an Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs who shall be the chief executive, administrative and fiscal officer of the department.

(2) The executive director shall receive an annual salary fixed by the board, not to exceed the maximum authorized by law, in addition to all actual, necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of official duties, including mileage as authorized by law.

(3) The executive director shall possess the following minimum qualifications:

(a) A master's degree in social work, or some closely-related field, and at least six (6) years' full-time experience in social work, child services and/or juvenile justice; or

(b) A bachelor's degree in a field described in paragraph (a) of this subsection and at least ten (10) years' full-time experience in social work, child services and/or juvenile justice; or

(c) A law degree and at least five (5) years' full-time experience in social work, child services and/or juvenile justice.

(4) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, with the approval of the Board of Children's Affairs, may assign to appropriate divisions such powers and duties as deemed appropriate to carry out the functions of the department, including, but not limited to:

(a) Division of Youth Services; and the

(b) Division of Family and Children's Services.

SECTION 4. Section 43-27-8, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-8. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall administer the following duties and responsibilities:

(a) To implement and administer laws and policy relating to youth services and coordinate the efforts of the department with those of the federal government and other state departments and agencies, county governments, municipal governments and private agencies concerned with providing youth services.

(b) To establish standards, provide technical assistance and exercise the requisite supervision as it relates to youth service programs over all state-supported juvenile correctional facilities.

(c) To promulgate and publish such rules, regulations and policies of the department as are needed for the efficient government and maintenance of all facilities and programs in accord, insofar as possible, with currently accepted standards of juvenile care and treatment.

(d) To make an annual report to the Legislature reflecting the activities of the department and make recommendations for improvement of the services to be performed by the department.

SECTION 5. Section 43-27-10, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-10. (a) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall exercise executive and administrative supervision over all state-owned facilities used for the detention, training, care, treatment and aftercare supervision of delinquent children properly committed to or confined in said facilities by a court on account of such delinquency; provided, however, such executive and administrative supervision under state-owned facilities shall not extend to any institutions and facilities for which executive and administrative supervision has been provided otherwise by law through other agencies.

(b) Such facilities shall include, but not be limited to, the Columbia Training School created by Chapter 111, Laws of 1916, and the Oakley Training School created by Chapter 205, Laws of 1942, and those facilities authorized by Laws, 1994, Ch. 652.

(c) The department shall have the power as a corporate body to receive, hold and use personal, real and mixed property donated to them or property acquired under Section 43-27-35, and shall have such other corporate authority as shall now or hereafter be necessary for the operation of any such facility. The department shall be responsible for the planning, development and coordination of a statewide, comprehensive youth services program designed to train and rehabilitate children in order to prevent, control and retard juvenile delinquency.

(d) The department is authorized to develop and implement diversified programs and facilities to promote, enhance, provide and assure the opportunities for the successful care, training and treatment of delinquent children properly committed to or confined in any facility under its control. Such programs and facilities may include, but not be limited to, training schools, foster homes, halfway houses, forestry camps, regional diagnostic centers, detention centers and other state and local community-based programs and facilities.

(e) The department is authorized to acquire whatever hazard, casualty or workers' compensation insurance is necessary for any property, real or personal, owned, leased or rented by the department or for any employees or personnel hired by the department and may acquire professional liability insurance on all employees as deemed necessary and proper by the department. All premiums due and payable on account thereof shall be paid out of the funds of the department.

SECTION 6. Section 43-27-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-11. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall succeed to the exclusive control of all records, books, papers, equipment and supplies, and all lands, buildings and other real and personal property now or hereafter belonging to or assigned to the use and benefit or under the control of the Columbia Training School and the Oakley Training School, and shall have the exercise and control of the use, distribution and disbursement of all funds, appropriations and taxes now or hereafter in possession, levied, collected or received or appropriated for the use, benefit, support and maintenance of these two (2) institutions, and the department shall have general supervision of all the affairs of the two (2) institutions herein named, and the care and conduct of all buildings and grounds, business methods and arrangements of accounts and records, the organization of the administrative plans of each institution, and all other matters incident to the proper functioning of the institutions. The department shall have full authority over the operation of any and all farms at each of said institutions and over the distribution of agricultural, dairy, livestock and any and all other products therefrom and over all funds received from the sale of hogs and livestock. All sums realized from the sale of products manufactured and fabricated in the shops of the vocational departments of such institutions shall be placed in the revolving fund of the respective institutions in which said products were manufactured, fabricated and sold.

The department shall be authorized to lease the lands for oil, gas and mineral exploration, and for such other purposes as the department deems to be appropriate, on such terms and conditions as the department and lessee agree. The department may contract with the State Forestry Commission for the proper management of forest lands and the sale of timber, and the department is expressly authorized to sell timber and forestry products. The department is further authorized to expend the net proceeds from incomes from all leases and timber sales exclusively for the instructional purposes at the two (2) institutions under its jurisdiction in proportion to the revenues derived from each training school.

The granting of any leases for oil, gas and mineral exploration shall be on a public bid basis as prescribed by law.

SECTION 7. Section 43-27-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-12. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall have exclusive supervisory care, custody and active control of all children properly committed to or confined in its facilities and included in its programs and shall have control of the grounds, buildings and other facilities and properties of said facilities and programs.

SECTION 8. Section 43-27-14, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-14. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall have the authority to accept any allotments of federal funds and commodities and shall manage and dispose of them in whatever manner may be required by federal law, and may take advantage of any federal programs, grants-in-aid, or other public or private assistance which may be offered or available which will accomplish or further the objectives of the department. The Attorney General shall be the legal representative of the department.

SECTION 9. Section 43-27-16, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-16. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs is authorized to request from any and all existing agencies, departments, divisions, officers, employees, boards, bureaus, commissions and institutions of the state of Mississippi, or any political subdivision thereof, information, data and assistance as will enable the department to fulfill its duties hereunder, and all such agencies, departments, divisions, officers, employees, boards, bureaus, commissions and institutions of the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions are hereby directed to cooperate with the department and render such information, data, aid and assistance as may be requested by the department.

SECTION 10. Section 43-27-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-17. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall use the services and resources of the state departments of education and health, and of all other appropriate state departments, agencies or institutions, as will aid in carrying out the purposes of this chapter. It shall be the duty of all such state departments, agencies and institutions to make available such services and resources to the department.

SECTION 11. Section 43-27-18, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-18. All positions in the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall be included in the state classification system, but the department is encouraged to establish an incentive program to motivate workers who deal directly with the children to obtain master's degrees in the field of sociology, psychology or some other related field.

SECTION 12. Section 43-27-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-19. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall keep in a suitable book a full and complete record of all of its actions under this chapter, which shall be open at all times to the inspection of the Governor and all persons whom he or either house of the Legislature may designate, and any member of the Legislature, to examine same.

SECTION 13. Section 43-27-20, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-20. (a) Within the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs there shall be a Office of Community Services which shall be headed by a director appointed by and responsible to the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs. He shall hold a master's degree in social work or a related field and shall have no less than three (3) years' experience in social services, or in lieu of such degree and experience, he shall have a minimum of eight (8) years' experience in social work or a related field. He shall employ and assign the community workers to serve in the various areas in the state and any other supporting personnel necessary to carry out the duties of the Office of Community Services, subject to the approval of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(b) The Director of the Office of Community Services shall assign probation and aftercare workers to the youth court or family court judges of the various court districts upon the request of the individual judge on the basis of caseload and need, when funds are available. The probation and aftercare workers shall live in their respective districts except upon approval of the Director of the Office of Community Services. The Director of the Office of Community Services is authorized to assign a youth services counselor to a district other than the district in which the youth services counselor lives upon the approval of the youth court judge of the assigned district and the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs. Every placement shall be with the approval of the youth court or the family court judge, and a probation and aftercare worker may be removed for cause from a youth or family court district.

(c) Any counties or cities which, on July 1, 1973, have court counselors or similar personnel may continue using this personnel or may choose to come within the statewide framework.

(d) A probation and aftercare worker may be transferred by the department from one court to another after consultation with the judge or judges in the court to which the employee is currently assigned.

(e) The Office of Community Services shall have such duties as the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall assign to it which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) Preparing the social, educational and home-life history and other diagnostic reports on the child for the benefit of the court or the training school; however, this provision shall not abridge the power of the court to require similar services from other agencies, according to law.

(2) Serving in counseling capacities with the youth or family courts.

(3) Serving as probation agents for the youth or family courts.

(4) Serving, advising and counseling of children in the various institutions under the control of the Office of Juvenile Correctional Institutions as may be necessary to the placement of the children in proper environment after release and the placement of children in suitable jobs where necessary and proper.

(5) Supervising and guiding of children released or conditionally released from institutions under the control of the Office of Juvenile Correctional Institutions.

(6) Counseling in an aftercare program.

(7) Coordinating the activities of supporting community agencies which aid in the social adjustment of children released from the institution and in an aftercare program.

(8) Providing or arranging for necessary services leading to the rehabilitation of delinquents, either within the division or through cooperative arrangements with other appropriate agencies.

(9) Providing counseling and supervision for any child under ten (10) years of age who has been brought to the attention of the court when other suitable personnel is not available and upon request of the court concerned.

(10) Supervising the aftercare program and making revocation investigations at the request of the court.

(f) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2003.

SECTION 14. Section 43-27-22, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-22. (1) Within the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs there shall be an Office of Juvenile Correctional Institutions which shall be headed by a Director of Juvenile Institutions, who shall be appointed by the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs. The Director of Juvenile Institutions shall appoint the individual Department of Children's Affairs Institutional Administrators who, in turn, shall have full power to select and employ personnel necessary to operate the facility he directs, subject to the approval of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(2) The Office of Juvenile Correctional Institutions shall have such duties as the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall assign to it including, but not limited to, the following:

(a) Operation and maintenance of training schools and other facilities as may be needed to properly diagnose, care for, train, educate and rehabilitate children and youths who have been committed to or confined in the facilities or who are included in the programs of the facilities.

(b) Fulfillment of the objectives of rehabilitation and reformation of the youths confined in the schools, being careful to employ no discipline, training or utilization of time and efforts of such youth that shall under any condition or in any way interfere with such objectives.

(c) Grouping of the youths in the schools according to age, sex and disciplinary needs with respect to their housing, schooling, training, recreation and work, being careful to prevent injury to the morals or interference with the training and rehabilitation of the younger or correctable youths by those considered to be less amenable to discipline and rehabilitation.

SECTION 15. Section 43-27-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-23. The superintendents of the Mississippi training schools may each receive free lodging in his respective institution for himself and his family, but not free board nor free supplies from the institution. Upon each superintendent's election to receive board for himself and family from the institution, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall enter on the minutes in advance the names and ages of the members of the family and fix the charges for their board at the average cost of table board in that community, but in no event at an amount less than the cost of said board to said institution, and said board so fixed shall be paid by the superintendent into the State Treasury before his salary for the next succeeding month shall be paid. The department shall make a detailed and itemized statement thereof to the Legislature. The same restrictions shall apply to all members of the clerical force of the institutions.

SECTION 16. Section 43-27-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-25. No person shall be committed to an institution under the control of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs who is seriously handicapped by mental illness or retardation. If after a person is referred to the training schools it shall be determined that he is mentally ill or mentally retarded to an extent that he could not be properly cared for in its custody, the director may institute necessary legal action to accomplish the transfer of such person to such other state institution as, in his judgment, is best qualified to care for him in accordance with the laws of this state. The department shall establish standards with regard to the physical and mental health of persons which it can accept for commitment.

SECTION 17. Section 43-27-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-27. Any child committed to an institution under the provisions of this chapter may be transferred by the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, in his discretion, to any of the schools or other facilities under his jurisdiction.

SECTION 18. Section 43-27-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-27-29. Academic and vocational training at all institutions under the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall meet standards prescribed by the State Department of Education based upon standards required for public schools. The department may prescribe such additional requirements as it may from time to time deem necessary. The State Superintendent of Education will administer the standards related to the high school and elementary school programs. Reports from the State Department of Education evaluating the educational program at all juvenile correctional institutions and indicating whether or not the program meets the standards as prescribed shall be made directly to the Director of the Division of Juvenile Correctional Institutions at regularly scheduled meetings. Such State Department of Education supervisory personnel as deemed appropriate shall be utilized for evaluating the programs and for reporting to the director of said division.

SECTION 19. Section 43-21-159, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-159. (1) When a person appears before a court other than the youth court, and it is determined that the person is a child under jurisdiction of the youth court, such court shall, unless the jurisdiction of the offense has been transferred to such court as provided in this chapter, or unless the child has previously been the subject of a transfer from the youth court to the circuit court for trial as an adult and was convicted, immediately dismiss the proceeding without prejudice and forward all documents pertaining to the cause to the youth court; and all entries in permanent records shall be expunged. The youth court shall have the power to order and supervise the expunction or the destruction of such records in accordance with Section 43-21-265. The youth court is authorized to expunge the record of any case within its jurisdiction in which an arrest was made, the person arrested was released and the case was dismissed or the charges were dropped or there was no disposition of such case. In cases where the child is charged with a hunting or fishing violation or a traffic violation whether it be any state or federal law, a violation of the Mississippi Implied Consent Law, or municipal ordinance or county resolution or where the child is charged with a violation of Section 67-3-70, the appropriate criminal court shall proceed to dispose of the same in the same manner as for other adult offenders and it shall not be necessary to transfer the case to the youth court of the county. Unless the cause has been transferred, or unless the child has previously been the subject of a transfer from the youth court to the circuit court for trial as an adult, except for violations under the Implied Consent Law, and was convicted, the youth court shall have power on its own motion to remove jurisdiction from any criminal court of any offense including a hunting or fishing violation, a traffic violation, or a violation of Section 67-3-70, committed by a child in a matter under the jurisdiction of the youth court and proceed therewith in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(2) After conviction and sentence of any child by any other court having original jurisdiction on a misdemeanor charge, and within the time allowed for an appeal of such conviction and sentence, the youth court of the county shall have the full power to stay the execution of the sentence and to release the child on good behavior or on other order as the youth court may see fit to make unless the child has previously been the subject of a transfer from the youth court to the circuit court for trial as an adult and was convicted. When a child is convicted of a misdemeanor and is committed to, incarcerated in or imprisoned in a jail or other place of detention by a criminal court having proper jurisdiction of such charge, such court shall notify the youth court judge or the judge's designee of the conviction and sentence prior to the commencement of such incarceration. The youth court shall have the power to order and supervise the destruction of any records involving children maintained by the criminal court in accordance with Section 43-21-265. However, the youth court shall have the power to set aside a judgment of any other court rendered in any matter over which the youth court has exclusive original jurisdiction, to expunge or destroy the records thereof in accordance with Section 43-21-265, and to order a refund of fines and costs.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) shall apply to a youth who has a pending charge or a conviction for any crime over which circuit court has original jurisdiction.

(4) In any case wherein the defendant is a child as defined in this chapter and of which the circuit court has original jurisdiction, the circuit judge, upon a finding that it would be in the best interest of such child and in the interest of justice, may at any stage of the proceedings prior to the attachment of jeopardy transfer such proceedings to the youth court for further proceedings unless the child has previously been the subject of a transfer from the youth court to the circuit court for trial as an adult and was convicted or has previously been convicted of a crime which was in original circuit court jurisdiction, and the youth court shall, upon acquiring jurisdiction, proceed as provided in this chapter for the adjudication and disposition of delinquent child proceeding proceedings. If the case is not transferred to the youth court and the youth is convicted of a crime by any circuit court, the trial judge shall sentence the youth as though such youth was an adult. The circuit court shall not have the authority to commit such child to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs for placement in a state-supported training school.

(5) In no event shall a court sentence an offender over the age of eighteen (18) to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs for placement in a state-supported training school.

(6) When a child's driver's license is suspended by the youth court for any reason, the clerk of the youth court shall report the suspension, without a court order under Section 43-21-261, to the Commissioner of Public Safety in the same manner as such suspensions are reported in cases involving adults.

(7) No offense involving the use or possession of a firearm by a child who has reached his fifteenth birthday and which, if committed by an adult would be a felony, shall be transferred to the youth court.

SECTION 20. Section 43-1-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-1-1. (1) The Department of Human Services shall be the State Department of Public Welfare and shall retain all powers and duties as granted to the State Department of Public Welfare. Wherever the term "State Department of Public Welfare" or "State Board of Public Welfare" appears in any law, the same shall mean the Department of Human Services. The Executive Director of the Department of Human Services may assign to the appropriate offices such powers and duties deemed appropriate to carry out the lawful functions of the department.

(2) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2002.

SECTION 21. Section 43-1-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-1-2. (1) There is created the Department of Human Services, whose offices shall be located in Jackson, Mississippi, and which shall be under the policy direction of the Governor.

(2) The chief administrative officer of the department shall be the Executive Director of Human Services. The Governor shall appoint the Executive Director of Human Services with the advice and consent of the Senate, and he shall serve at the will and pleasure of the Governor, and until his successor is appointed and qualified. The Executive Director of Human Services shall possess the following qualifications:

(a) A bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher learning and ten (10) years' experience in management, public administration, finance or accounting; or

(b) A master's or doctoral degree from an accredited institution of higher learning and five (5) years' experience in management, public administration, finance or accounting.

Those qualifications shall be certified by the State Personnel Board.

(3) There shall be a Joint Oversight Committee of the Department of Human Services composed of the respective Chairmen of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee, the House Public Health and Welfare Committee and the House Appropriations Committee, two (2) members of the Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve at the will and pleasure of the Lieutenant Governor, and two (2) members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House to serve at the will and pleasure of the Speaker. The chairmanship of the committee shall alternate for twelve-month periods between the Senate members and the House members, with the Chairman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee serving as the first chairman. The committee shall meet once each month, or upon the call of the chairman at such times as he deems necessary or advisable, and may make recommendations to the Legislature pertaining to any matter within the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Department of Human Services. The appointing authorities may designate an alternate member from their respective houses to serve when the regular designee is unable to attend such meetings of the Oversight Committee. For attending meetings of the Oversight Committee, such legislators shall receive per diem and expenses which shall be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same amounts as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session; however, no per diem and expenses for attending meetings of the committee will be paid while the Legislature is in session. No per diem and expenses will be paid except for attending meetings of the Oversight Committee without prior approval of the proper committee in their respective houses.

(4) The State Department of Human Services shall provide the services authorized by law to every individual determined to be eligible therefor, and in carrying out the purposes of the department, the executive director is authorized:

(a) To formulate the policy of the department regarding human services within the jurisdiction of the department;

(b) To adopt, modify, repeal and promulgate, after due notice and hearing, and where not otherwise prohibited by federal or state law, to make exceptions to and grant exemptions and variances from, and to enforce rules and regulations implementing or effectuating the powers and duties of the department under any and all statutes within the department's jurisdiction, all of which shall be binding upon the county departments of human services;

(c) To apply for, receive and expend any federal or state funds or contributions, gifts, devises, bequests or funds from any other source;

(d) Except as limited by Section 43-1-3, to enter into and execute contracts, grants and cooperative agreements with any federal or state agency or subdivision thereof, or any public or private institution located inside or outside the State of Mississippi, or any person, corporation or association in connection with carrying out the programs of the department; and

(e) To discharge such other duties, responsibilities and powers as are necessary to implement the programs of the department.

(5) The executive director shall establish the organizational structure of the Mississippi Department of Human Services which shall include the creation of any units necessary to implement the duties assigned to the department and consistent with specific requirements of law, including but not limited to:

(a) Office of Economic Assistance;

(b) Office of Child Support.

(6) The Executive Director of Human Services shall appoint heads of offices, bureaus and divisions, as defined in Section 7-17-11, who shall serve at the pleasure of the executive director. The salary and compensation of such office, bureau and division heads shall be subject to the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the State Personnel Board as created under Section 25-9-101 et seq. The executive director shall have the authority to organize offices as deemed appropriate to carry out the responsibilities of the department. The organization charts of the department shall be presented annually with the budget request of the Governor for review by the Legislature.

(7) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2002.

SECTION 22. Section 43-1-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-1-3. Notwithstanding the authority granted under subsection (4)(d) of Section 43-1-2, the Department of Human Services or the Executive Director of Human Services shall not be authorized to delegate, privatize or otherwise enter into a contract with a private entity for the operation of any office, bureau or division of the department, as defined in Section 7-17-11, without specific authority to do so by general act of the Legislature. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to invalidate (i) any contract of the department that is in place and operational before January 1, 1994; or (ii) the continued renewal of any such contract with the same entity upon the expiration of the contract; or (iii) the execution of a contract with another legal entity as a replacement of any such contract that is expiring, provided that the replacement contract is substantially the same as the expiring contract. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the department shall be authorized to continue the operation of its child support collection program with a private entity on a pilot program basis in Hinds and Warren Counties in Mississippi, and the department and the private entity shall specifically be prohibited from expanding such pilot program to any counties other than Hinds and Warren Counties without specific authority to do so by amendment to this section by general act of the Legislature. Before December 15, 1994, the department shall provide a detailed report to the Joint Oversight Committee established by Section 43-1-2 and to the Legislature that describes the results of the pilot program for the privatization of the department's child support collection program as of December 1, 1994, including an evaluation of whether there has been substantial compliance with the performance standards specified in the contract for the private entity in conducting the pilot program.

This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2002.

SECTION 23. Section 43-1-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-1-5. It shall be the duty of the Department of Human Services to:

(1) Establish and maintain programs not inconsistent with the terms of this chapter and the rules, regulations and policies of the State Department of Human Services, and publish the rules and regulations of the department pertaining to such programs.

(2) Make such reports in such form and containing such information as the federal government may, from time to time, require, and comply with such provisions as the federal government may, from time to time, find necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports.

(3) Within ninety (90) days after the end of each fiscal year, and at each regular session of the Legislature, make and publish one (1) report to the Governor and to the Legislature, showing for the period of time covered, in each county and for the state as a whole:

(a) The total number of recipients;

(b) The total amount paid to them in cash;

(c) The maximum and the minimum amount paid to any recipients in any one (1) month;

(d) The total number of applications;

(e) The number granted;

(f) The number denied;

(g) The number cancelled;

(h) The amount expended for administration of the provisions of this chapter;

(i) The amount of money received from the federal government, if any;

(j) The amount of money received from recipients of assistance and from their estates and the disposition of same;

(k) Such other information and recommendations as the Governor may require or the department shall deem advisable;

(l) The number of state-owned automobiles purchased and operated during the year by the department, the number purchased and operated out of funds appropriated by the Legislature, the number purchased and operated out of any other public funds, the miles traveled per automobile, the total miles traveled, the average cost per mile and depreciation estimate on each automobile;

(m) The cost per mile and total number of miles traveled by department employees in privately-owned automobiles, for which reimbursement is made out of state funds;

(n) Each association, convention or meeting attended by any department employees, the purposes thereof, the names of the employees attending and the total cost to the state of such

convention, association or meeting;

(o) How the money appropriated to the institutions under the jurisdiction of the department has been expended during the preceding year, beginning and ending with the fiscal year of each institution, exhibiting the salaries paid to officers and employees of the institutions, and each and every item of receipt and expenditure;

(p) The activities of each division within the Department of Human Services and recommendations for improvement of the services to be performed by each division;

(q) In order of authority, the twenty (20) highest paid employees in the department receiving an annual salary in excess of Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000.00), by P.I.N. number, job title, job description and annual salary.

Each report shall be balanced and shall begin with the balance at the end of the preceding fiscal year, and if any property belonging to the state or the institution is used for profit such report shall show the expenses incurred in managing the property and the amount received from the same. Such reports shall also show a summary of the gross receipts and gross disbursements for each fiscal year and shall show the money on hand at the beginning of the fiscal period of each division and institution of the department.

This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2002.

SECTION 24. Section 43-1-6, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-1-6. The following programs within the Division of Federal-State Programs, Office of the Governor, shall be transferred to the State Department of Human Services:

(a) Office of Energy and Community Services;

(b) Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee; and

(c) Mississippi Council on Aging.

All authority to implement those programs shall be vested in the State Department of Human Services.

This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2002.

SECTION 25. Section 43-1-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-1-51. There is hereby created within the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs a single and separate Division of Family and Children's Services. The division shall be responsible for the development, execution and provision of services in the following areas: (a) protective services for children and adults; (b) foster care; (c) adoption services; (d) special services; (e) interstate compact; (f) licensure; and (g) such services as may be designated by the board. Employees working within the division shall be limited to work within the areas of service enumerated herein. Services enumerated under Section 43-15-13 et seq., for the foster care program shall be provided by qualified staff with appropriate case loads.

SECTION 26. Section 43-1-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-1-53. (1) The Division of Family and Children's Services shall be formed at each level of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs including state, regional and county levels. The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall appoint and employ a director for the division who shall have a master's degree in a field related to children's services. In addition, he shall have no less than three (3) years' experience in the field of service to children. In lieu of such degree and experience, he shall have a minimum of ten (10) years' actual experience in the field of children's services.

(2) The state office of the Division of Family and Children's Services shall develop policy, provide training and oversee the implementation of services. The director shall establish such planning and policy councils as may be necessary to carry out these functions.

(3) The regional office of the Division of Family and Children's Services shall consist of a regional services director and a crisis intervention team to be dispatched on a case-by-case basis by the regional services director. From and after July 1, 1998, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall at a minimum employ and assign to the Division of Family and Children's Services two (2) additional regional services directors for supervision of the foster care program.

(4) Area offices. Each region shall be divided into three (3) areas, each of which shall have two (2) supervisors and direct service workers deployed at the county level, but not limited in jurisdiction to that county.

(5) Counties. The area supervisors shall assign service workers so that every county has an appropriate access point for all services.

SECTION 27. Section 43-16-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-16-3. As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly provides otherwise:

(a) "Child" means a person who has not reached the age of eighteen (18) years or who has not otherwise been legally emancipated.

(b) "Child residential home" means any place, facility or home operated by any person which receives children who are not related to the operators and whose parents or guardians are not residents of the same facility for supervision, care, lodging and maintenance for twenty-four (24) hours a day, with or without transfer of custody. This term shall not include residential homes which are licensed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs under the provisions of Section 43-15-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, and shall not include any public school or any such home operated by a state agency, nor shall it include child care facilities as defined in Section 43-20-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, youth camps as defined in Section 75-74-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, or health care facilities licensed by the State Department of Health.

(c) "Department" shall mean the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(d) "Person" shall include an individual, partnership, organization, association or corporation.

SECTION 28. Section 43-16-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-16-5. Mississippi Department of Children's Affair's to discharge provisions of chapter; notification agency. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall be the notification agency for all child residential homes, and the department shall discharge as additional duties and responsibilities the provisions of this chapter.

SECTION 29. Section 43-16-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-16-7. (1) The operator of any child residential home shall provide notification in accordance with this chapter within sixty (60) days of beginning operation.

(2) All child residential homes operating on July 1, 1989, shall either apply for a license from the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs pursuant to Section 43-15-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, or file notification in accordance with this chapter, prior to August 1, 1989.

SECTION 30. Section 43-16-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-16-9. Such notification shall be filed by the executive director of the child residential home to the department upon forms provided by the department and shall contain the following information:

(a) Name, street address, mailing address and phone number of the home.

(b) Name of the executive director and all staff members of the home.

(c) Name and description of the agency or organization operating the home, which shall include a statement as to whether or not the agency or organization is incorporated.

(d) Name and address of the sponsoring organization of the home, if applicable.

(e) The names of all children living at the home which shall include the following personal data:

(i) Full name and a copy of the child's birth certificate;

(ii) Name and address of parent(s) or guardian(s); and

(iii) Name and address of other nearest relative.

(f) School(s) attended by the children served by such home.

(g) Fire department or State Fire Marshal inspection certificate.

(h) Local health department inspection certificate or permit from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for private water supplies, individual on-site wastewater disposal systems and other environmental services, as applicable.

(i) Proof, to be shown by the sworn affidavit of the executive director of the home, that the home has performed (i) criminal record background checks, and (ii) felony conviction record information checks on all employees, prospective employees, volunteers and prospective volunteers at such home, and that such records are maintained to the extent permitted by law, for every such employee, prospective employee, volunteer and prospective volunteer.

(j) Proof, to be shown by the sworn affidavit of the executive director of the home, that medical records are maintained for each child.

SECTION 31. Section 43-16-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-16-21. Notwithstanding the existence of any other remedy, the department may, in the manner provided by law, in termtime or in vacation, upon the advice of the Attorney General who shall represent the department in the proceedings, maintain an action in the name of the state for an injunction or restraining order to cease the operation of the home, and to provide for the appropriate removal of the children from the home and placement in the custody of the parents or legal guardians, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, or any other appropriate entity in the discretion of the court. Such action shall be brought in the chancery court or the youth court, as appropriate, of the county in which such child residential home is located, and shall only be initiated for the following violations:

(a) Providing supervision, care, lodging or maintenance for any children in such home without filing notification in accordance with this chapter.

(b) Failure to satisfactorily comply with local health department or State Fire Marshal inspections made pursuant to Section 43-16-15, regarding the health, nutrition, cleanliness, safety, sanitation, written records and discipline policy of such home.

(c) Suspected abuse and/or neglect of the children served by such home, as defined in Section 43-21-105, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 32. Section 43-16-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-16-25. A license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be renewed annually upon payment of a renewal fee not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and upon filing by the licensee of an annual report upon such uniform dates and upon forms provided by the licensing agency, accompanied by a current certificate of inspection and approval by the fire department and the county health department specified in Section 43-16-11, if applicable.

No governmental entity or agency shall be required to pay the fee or fees set forth in this section.

SECTION 33. Section 43-20-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-5. When used in this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:

(a) "Child care facility" means a place which provides shelter and personal care for six (6) or more children who are not related within the third degree computed according to the civil law to the operator and who are under thirteen (13) years of age, for any part of the 24-hour day, whether such place be organized or operated for profit or not. The term "child care facility" includes day nurseries, day care centers and any other facility that falls within the scope of the definitions set forth above, regardless of auspices. Child care facilities which operate for no more than two (2) days a week, whose primary purpose is to provide respite for the caregiver or temporary care during other scheduled or related activities and organized programs which operate for three (3) or less weeks per year such as, but not limited to, vacation bible schools and scout day camps, are exempt. Also exempted from this chapter is any child residential home as defined in, and in compliance with the provisions of, Section 43-16-3(b) et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972. Also exempted from this chapter is any elementary, including kindergarten, and/or secondary school system, accredited by the Mississippi State Department of Education, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or the Mississippi Private School Education Association and any Headstart program operating in conjunction with an elementary school system, whether it be public, private or parochial, whose primary purpose is a structured school or school readiness program. Also exempted is any membership organization affiliated with a national organization which charges only a nominal annual membership fee, does not receive monthly, weekly or daily payments for services, and is certified by its national association as being in compliance with the association's minimum standards and procedures, including, but not limited to, the Boys and Girls Club of America, and the YMCA. All other preschool child care programs and/or extended day school programs must meet requirements set forth in this chapter.

(b) "Health" means that condition of being sound in mind and body and encompasses an individual's physical, mental and emotional welfare.

(c) "Safety" means that condition of being protected from hurt, injury or loss.

(d) "Person" means any person, firm, partnership, corporation or association.

(e) "Operator" means any person, acting individually or jointly with another person or persons, who shall establish, own, operate, conduct or maintain a child care facility.

(f) "Personal care" means assistance rendered by personnel of the child care facility in performing one or more of the activities of daily living, which includes, but is not limited to, the feeding, personal grooming, supervising and dressing of children placed in the child care facility.

(g) "Licensing agency" means the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

SECTION 34. Section 43-20-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-7. (1) There is hereby created an advisory council which shall be appointed by the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(2) The advisory council shall consist of eleven (11) persons, five (5) of whom shall be licensed child care providers, and six (6) of whom shall represent child care professional organizations, child advocacy groups, and/or state agencies which provide child care funding or services. No more than four (4) members shall be appointed from any one (1) state Supreme Court district.

(3) It shall be the duty of the advisory council to assist and advise the licensing agency in the development of regulations governing the licensure and regulation of child care facilities.

(4) Members of the advisory council shall be reimbursed for mileage and expenses as is authorized by law.

SECTION 35. Section 43-20-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-11. An application for a license under this chapter shall be made to the licensing agency upon forms provided by it, and shall contain such information as the licensing agency may reasonably require. Each application for a license shall be accompanied by a license fee not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), which shall be paid to the licensing agency. Licenses shall be granted to applicants upon the filing of properly completed application forms, accompanied by payment of the said license fee, and a certificate of inspection and approval by the fire department of the municipality or other political subdivision in which the facility is located, and by a certificate of inspection and approval by the health department of the county or permit from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for private water supplies, individual on-site wastewater disposal systems and other environmental services, as applicable, in which the facility is located, and approval by the licensing agency; except that if no fire department exists where the facility is located, the State Fire Marshal shall certify as to the inspection for safety from fire hazards. Said fire, county health department and licensing agency inspections and approvals shall be based upon regulations promulgated by the licensing agency as approved by the State Board of Health.

Each license shall be issued only for the premises and person or persons named in the application and shall not be transferable or assignable except with the written approval of the licensing agency. Licenses shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the licensed premises.

No governmental entity or agency shall be required to pay the fee or fees set forth in this section.

SECTION 36. Section 43-20-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-12. All fees collected by the licensing agency under this chapter and any penalties collected by the licensing agency for violations of this chapter shall be deposited in a special fund hereby created in the State Treasury and shall be used for the implementation and administration of this chapter when appropriated by the Legislature for such purpose.

SECTION 37. Section 43-20-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-13. A license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be renewed upon payment of a renewal fee not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) per year and upon filing by the licensee of a report upon such uniform dates and upon forms provided by the licensing agency, accompanied by a current certificate of inspection and approval by the fire department and the county health department specified in Section 43-20-11, if applicable.

No governmental entity or agency shall be required to pay the fee or fees set forth in this section.

SECTION 38. Section 43-20-14, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-14. (1) The licensing agency may deny a license or refuse to renew a license for any of the reasons set forth in subsection (3) of this section.

(2) Before the licensing agency may deny or refuse to renew, the applicant or person named on the license shall be entitled to a hearing in order to show cause why the license should not be denied or should be renewed.

(3) The licensing agency may suspend, revoke or restrict the license of any child care facility upon one or more of the following grounds:

(a) Fraud, misrepresentation or concealment of material facts;

(b) Conviction of an operator for any crime if the licensing agency finds that the act or acts for which the operator was convicted could have a detrimental effect on children cared for by any child care facility;

(c) Violation of any of the provisions of this act or of the regulations governing the licensing and regulation of child care facilities promulgated by the licensing agency;

(d) Any conduct, or failure to act, which is found or determined by the licensing agency to threaten the health or safety of children at the facility;

(e) Failure by the child care facility to comply with the provisions of Section 43-20-8(3), Mississippi Code of 1972, regarding background checks of caregivers or with Section 45-31-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, concerning employment of persons who have been convicted of certain offenses or have had certain actions taken against them in court; and

(f) Information received by the licensing agency as a result of the felony conviction records check, the sex offense criminal records check and the child abuse registry check on any and all operators pursuant to Section 43-20-8, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(4) Before the licensing agency may suspend, revoke or restrict the license of any facility, any licensee affected by such decision of the licensing agency shall be entitled to a hearing in which the licensee may show cause why the license should not be suspended, revoked or restricted.

(5) Any licensee who disagrees with or is aggrieved by a decision of the licensing agency in regard to the denial, refusal to renew, suspension, revocation or restriction of such license, may appeal to the chancery court of the county in which such facility is located. Such appeal shall be filed no later than thirty (30) days after the licensee receives written notice of the final administrative action by the licensing agency as to the suspension, revocation or restriction of the license of such licensee.

SECTION 39. Section 43-20-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-53. As used in Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65:

(a) "Family child care home" means any residential facility occupied by the operator where five (5) or fewer children who are not related within the third degree computed according to the civil law to the provider and who are under the age of thirteen (13) years of age are provided care for any part of the twenty-four-hour day.

(b) "Registering agency" means the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(c) "Provider" means the person responsible for the care of children.

SECTION 40. Section 43-20-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-55. The advisory council appointed by the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs under the provisions of Section 43-20-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall assist and advise in the development of regulations and standards governing the registration and regulation of family child care homes. Members of the council who are not public employees shall receive per diem compensation as provided under Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, and shall be reimbursed for mileage and expenses.

SECTION 41. Section 43-20-57, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-57. (1) No person shall knowingly maintain a family child care home if, in such family child care home, there resides, works or regularly volunteers any person who:

(a) (i) Has a felony conviction for a crime against persons;

(ii) Has a felony conviction under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act;

(iii) Has a conviction for a crime of child abuse or neglect;

(iv) Has a conviction for any sex offense as defined in Section 45-33-23, Mississippi Code of 1972; or

(v) Any other offense committed in another jurisdiction or any federal offense which, if committed in this state, would be deemed to be such a crime without regard to its designation elsewhere;

(b) Has been adjudicated a juvenile offender because of having committed an act which if done by an adult would constitute the commission of a felony and which is a crime against persons;

(c) Has had a child declared in a court order in this or any other state to be deprived or a child in need of care based on an allegation of physical, mental or emotional abuse or neglect or sexual abuse;

(d) Has had parental rights terminated pursuant to Section 93-15-101 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972; or

(e) Has an infectious or contagious disease, as defined by the State Department of Health pursuant to Section 41-23-1, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(2) No person shall maintain a family child care home if such person has been found to be a disabled person in need of a guardian or conservator, or both.

(3) Any person who resides in the home and who has been found to be a disabled person in need of a guardian or conservator, or both, shall be included in the total number of children allowed in care.

(4) In accordance with the provision of this subsection (4), the registering agency shall have access to any court orders or adjudications of any court of record, any records of such orders or adjudications, criminal history record information in the possession of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety or court of this state concerning persons working, regularly volunteering or residing in a family child care home. The department shall have access to these records for the purpose of determining whether or not the home meets the requirements of Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65.

(5) No family child care home or its employees shall be liable for civil damages to any person refused employment or discharged from employment by reason of such home's compliance with the provisions of this section if such home acts in good faith to comply with this section.

SECTION 42. Section 43-20-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-59. (1) Any person maintaining a family child care home may register such home with the registering agency on forms provided by it.

(2) A certificate of registration shall be issued to the applicant for registration who (a) attests to the safety of the home for the care of children, (b) submits a fee of Five Dollars ($5.00) payable to the registering agency, and (c) certifies that no person described in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) of Section 43-20-57(1) resides, works or volunteers in the family child care home.

(3) The registering agency shall furnish each applicant for registration a family child care home safety evaluation form to be completed by the applicant and submitted with the registration application.

(4) The certificate of registration shall be renewed annually in the same manner provided for in this section.

(5) A certificate of registration shall be in force for one (1) year after the date of issuance unless revoked pursuant to Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65. The certificate shall specify that the registrant may operate a family child care home for five (5) or fewer children. This section shall not be construed to limit the right of the registering agency to enter a registered family child care home for the purpose of assessing compliance with Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65 after receiving a complaint against the registrant of such home or in conducting a periodic routine inspection.

(6) The registering agency shall adopt rules and regulations to implement the registration provisions.

SECTION 43. Section 43-20-61, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-61. The registering agency may deny, revoke or refuse to renew a certificate of registration upon determination that the registrant falsified information on the application or willfully and substantially has violated Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65, inclusive and amendments thereto. The registering agency shall not revoke or refuse to renew any certificate without giving notice and conducting a hearing.

SECTION 44. Section 43-20-63, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-63. The registering agency may suspend any certificate of registration issued under the provision of Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65 upon any of the following grounds and in the manner provided in Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65:

(a) Violation by the registrant of any provision of Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65 or of the rules and regulations promulgated under Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65;

(b) Aiding, abetting or permitting the violation of any provision of Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65 or of the rules and regulations promulgated under Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65;

(c) Conduct in the operation or maintenance, or both the operation and maintenance of a family child care home which is inimical to health, morals, welfare or safety of either an individual in or receiving services from the home or the people of this state; and

(d) The conviction of a registrant at any time during registration of any crime under state or federal law.

The registering agency may suspend any certificate of registration issued under the provisions of Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65 prior to any hearing when, in the opinion of the registering agency, the action is necessary to protect any child in the family child care home from physical or mental abuse, abandonment or any other substantial threat to health or safety.

SECTION 45. Section 43-20-65, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-20-65. Information received by the registering agency through filed reports, inspections or otherwise authorized under Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65 shall not be disclosed publicly in such manner as to identify individuals. In any hearings conducted under regulation provisions of Sections 43-20-51 through 43-20-65, the hearing officer may close the hearing to the public to prevent public disclosure of matters relating to individuals restricted by other law.

SECTION 46. Section 75-74-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-74-3. In this chapter, unless the context requires a different definition:

(a) "Licensing agency" shall mean the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(b) "Camper" shall mean any child six (6) to eighteen (18) years of age who is attending a youth camp.

(c) "Executive director" shall mean the Executive Director, Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(d) "Person" shall mean any individual, partnership, corporation, association or organization.

(e) "Youth camp" shall mean any camp operating on a permanent campsite for four (4) or more consecutive periods of twenty-four (24) hours, and accommodating twenty (20) or more children six (6) to eighteen (18) years of age; provided, however, athletic camps and hunting and fishing camps shall not be included in this definition.

(f) "Permanent campsite" shall mean a campground containing within the premises thereof permanent structures and installed facilities which are primarily used for camping purposes by a youth camp operator; provided, however, facilities owned by the State of Mississippi, any political subdivision thereof or any public or private university, college or junior college shall not be included in this definition.

(g) "Youth camp operator" shall mean any person who owns, operates, controls or supervises, whether or not for profit, a youth camp.

SECTION 47. Section 75-74-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-74-7. The licensing agency is the principal authority in the state on matters relating to the condition of safety and health at youth camps in Mississippi. The licensing agency has the powers and duties set out in this chapter and all other powers necessary and convenient to carry out its responsibilities.

SECTION 48. Section 75-74-8, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-74-8. (1) Any nonresident physician who is not licensed to practice medicine in this state and any resident physician who is retired from the active practice of medicine in this state may be issued a temporary license by the State Board of Medical Licensure to practice medicine at a youth camp licensed by the licensing agency under this chapter while serving as a volunteer at such a camp, provided that any such nonresident physician shall hold a valid license to practice medicine in another state and the medical licensing authority of that state shall certify to the Board of Medical Licensure in writing that such license is in good standing, and that any such retired resident physician shall be in good standing with the Board of Medical Licensure.

(2) Any nonresident registered nurse who is not licensed to practice nursing in this state and any resident registered nurse who is retired from the active practice of nursing in this state may be issued a temporary license by the Mississippi Board of Nursing to practice nursing at a youth camp licensed under this chapter * * * while serving as a volunteer at such a camp, provided that any such nonresident nurse shall hold a valid license to practice nursing in another state and the nurse licensing authority of that state shall certify to the Board of Nursing in writing that such license is in good standing, and that any such retired resident nurse shall be in good standing with the Board of Nursing. The Board of Nursing shall be authorized to require any resident registered nurse who has been retired from the active practice of nursing in this state for five (5) or more consecutive years to complete a nursing reorientation program prescribed by the board before the board will issue a temporary license to practice nursing at a youth camp to such nurse.

(3) A temporary license issued under subsection (1) or (2) of this section shall authorize the physician or registered nurse to whom the license is issued to administer treatment and care within the scope of his training to campers and employees of the youth camp, but shall not authorize the physician or registered nurse to otherwise practice in the state. Such temporary license shall be valid only during the time that the physician or registered nurse is in residence at the camp, but in no event shall such license be valid for more than ninety (90) days. A new temporary license shall be obtained by a physician or registered nurse each time that he serves as a volunteer at a youth camp. The fee for each such license shall be Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00), which shall be payable to the board from which the license is obtained.

SECTION 49. Section 75-74-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-74-9. (1) The licensing agency shall have the authority and the duty to make and promulgate rules and regulations consistent with the policy and purpose of this chapter, and to amend any rule or regulation it makes. In developing such rules and regulations, the board shall consult with appropriate public and private officials and organizations and parents and camp operators. It shall be the duty of the licensing agency to advise all existing youth camps in this state of this chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated under this chapter.

(2) There is created within the licensing agency the advisory council on youth camp safety to advise and consult on policy matters relating to youth camp safety. The council consists of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs or his representative and a minimum of eight (8) members appointed by the executive director, including the following groups: one (1) member representative each from a private nonsectarian camp, a church-related or sponsored camp, the Girl Scouts of America, the Boy Scouts of America, the Mississippi Camping Association, camps for the handicapped and civic organization camps; and a consumer, a parent or an older youth with prior camping experience. A member is entitled to hold office for two (2) years or until his successor is appointed and qualifies. The executive director or his representative shall fill vacancies for unexpired terms. Council members serve without compensation, but are entitled to be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The executive director may appoint special advisory or technical experts and consultants as are necessary to assist the council in carrying out its functions.

(3) No rule or regulation promulgated or amended by the board under this chapter shall be effective until a public hearing is held thereon. Notice of a public hearing, including the time, date and location of the hearing and the substance of the proposed rule, regulation or amendment, shall be given by the board to each licensee of a youth camp and the general public not less than ten (10) days nor more than thirty (30) days before the hearing. Any interested person may appear at the hearing to present evidence or testimony concerning the proposed rule, regulation or amendment.

SECTION 50. Section 75-74-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-74-11. No person or organization may operate or sponsor a youth camp in Mississippi without first holding a valid license under this chapter and without complying with the provisions of this chapter and with any rule, regulation or order of the licensing agency.

Each application for a license to operate or sponsor a youth camp shall be accompanied by a license fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), which shall be paid to the board. A license issued under this chapter may be renewed upon payment of a renewal fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), which shall be paid to the board.

No governmental entity or agency shall be required to pay the fee or fees set forth in this section.

SECTION 51. Section 75-74-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-74-17. (1) No person may operate a youth camp in Mississippi without complying with all provisions of this chapter, and any rules, regulations and orders of the licensing agency.

(2) Any person operating a youth camp in Mississippi without a license shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Each day shall constitute a separate offense.

SECTION 52. Section 75-74-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-74-19. All fees collected by the licensing agency under this chapter and any penalties collected by the board for violations of this chapter shall be deposited in a special fund hereby created in the State Treasury and shall be used for the implementation and administration of this chapter when appropriated by the Legislature for such purpose.

SECTION 53. Section 43-15-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-3. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to cooperate fully with the United States Children's Bureau and Secretary of Labor in establishing, extending and strengthening "child welfare services" for the protection and care of homeless, dependent and neglected children and children in danger of becoming delinquent. Said Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs is further authorized, empowered and directed to cooperate with the United States Children's Bureau and Secretary of Labor in developing plans for said "child welfare services" and extending any other cooperation necessary under Section 521 of Public Law No. 271-74th Congress of the United States.

In furtherance of the "child welfare services" referred to in the first paragraph hereof the State Treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to receive on behalf of the state, and to execute all instruments incidental thereto, federal or other funds to be used for "child welfare services," and to place such funds in a special account to the credit of the "child welfare services," which said funds shall be expended by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs for the purposes and under the provisions of this chapter and Section 521 of Public Law No. 271-74th Congress of the United States. It shall be paid out by the State Treasurer as funds appropriated to carry out the provisions of said laws.

The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall issue all checks on said "child welfare services" fund to persons entitled to payment from said fund. All such sums shall be drawn upon the "child welfare services" fund upon requisition of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

The money in the "child welfare services" fund shall be expended in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Children's Bureau and Secretary of Labor and in accordance with the plan developed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs and the United States Children's Bureau under Section 521 of Public Law No. 271-74th Congress of the United States, and shall not be used for any other purpose.

If a claim for foster care and/or adoption assistance under Title IV-E of the federal Social Security Act is not acted upon within a reasonable time after the filing of the claim, or is denied in whole or in part, the claimant may appeal to the Director of the Division of Family and Children's Services in the manner and form prescribed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs. The Director of the Division of Family and Children's Services shall, upon receipt of such an appeal, give the claimant reasonable notice and opportunity for a fair hearing. The Director of the Division of Family and Children's Services may also, upon his or her own motion, review any decision regarding a claim, and may consider any claim upon which a decision has not been made within a reasonable time. All decisions of the Director of Family and Children's Services shall be final and binding.

SECTION 54. Section 43-15-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-5. (1) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall have authority and it shall be its duty to administer or supervise all public child welfare services, including those services, responsibilities, duties and powers with which the county departments of children's affairs are charged and empowered in this chapter; administer and supervise the licensing and inspection of all private child placing agencies; provide for the care of dependent and neglected children in foster family homes or in institutions, supervise the care of such children and those of illegitimate birth; supervise the importation of children; and supervise the operation of all state institutions for children. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall be authorized to purchase hospital and medical insurance coverage for those children placed in foster care by the state or county departments of children's affairs who are not otherwise eligible for medical assistance under the Mississippi Medicaid Law. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall be further authorized to purchase burial or life insurance not exceeding One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) for those children placed in foster care by the state or county departments of children's affairs. All insurance coverage authorized herein may be purchased with any funds other than state funds available to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, including those funds available to the child which are administered by the department.

(2) Any person, partnership, group, corporation, organization or association desiring to operate a child residential home, as defined in Section 43-16-3, may make application for a license for such a facility to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs on the application forms furnished for this purpose by the department. If an applicant meets the published rules and regulations of the department regarding minimum standards for a child residential home, then the applicant shall be granted a license by the department.

SECTION 55. Section 43-15-6, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-6. (1) Any person, institution, facility, clinic, organization or other entity that provides services to children in a residential setting where care, lodging, maintenance, and counseling or therapy for alcohol or controlled substance abuse or for any other emotional disorder or mental illness is provided for children, whether for compensation or not, that holds himself, herself, or itself out to the public as providing such services, and that is entrusted with the care of the children to whom he, she, or it provides services, because of the nature of the services and the setting in which the services are provided shall be subject to the provisions of this section.

(2) Each entity to which this section applies shall complete, through the appropriate governmental authority, a national criminal history record information check and a child abuse registry check for each owner, operator, employee, prospective employee, volunteer or prospective volunteer of the entity and/or any other that has or may have unsupervised access to a child served by the entity. In order to determine the applicant's suitability for employment, the entity shall ensure that the applicant be fingerprinted by local law enforcement, and the results forwarded to the Department of Public Safety. If no disqualifying record is identified at the state level, the fingerprints shall be forwarded by the Department of Public Safety to the FBI for a national criminal history record check.

(3) An owner, operator, employee, prospective employee, volunteer or prospective volunteer of the entity and/or any other that has or may have unsupervised access to a child who has a criminal history of conviction or pending indictment of a crime, whether a misdemeanor or a felony, that bears upon an individual's fitness to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children as set forth in this chapter may not provide child care or operate, or be licensed as, a residential child care program, foster parent, or foster home.

(4) All fees incurred in compliance with this section shall be borne by the individual or entity to which subsection (1) applies.

(5) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall have the authority to set fees, to exclude a particular crime or crimes or a substantiated finding of child abuse and/or neglect as disqualifying individuals or entities from providing foster care or residential child care, and adopt such other rules and regulations as may be required to carry out the provisions of this section.

(6) Any entity that violates the provisions of this section by failure to complete sex offense criminal history record information and felony conviction record information checks, as required under subsection (3) of this section, shall be subject to a penalty of up to Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) for each such violation and may be enjoined from further operation until it complies with this section in actions maintained by the Attorney General.

(7) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs and/or its officers, employees, attorneys, agents and representatives shall not be held civilly liable for any findings, recommendations or actions taken pursuant to this section.

SECTION 56. Section 43-15-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-7. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs is hereby authorized to provide protective services for children as will conserve home life; assume responsibility for the care and support of dependent children needing public care away from their homes; place children found by the department to be dependent or without proper care in suitable institutions or private homes, and cooperate with public and private institutions and agencies in placing such children in suitable institutions or private homes; accept custody or guardianship, through one of its designated employees, of any child, when appointed as custodian or guardian in the manner provided by law.

The board of supervisors in each county is hereby empowered, in its discretion, to set aside and appropriate out of the tax levied and collected to support the poor of the county or out of the county general fund necessary monies to be administered by the county department of children's affairs to carry out the provisions of this section.

SECTION 57. Section 43-15-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-11. (1) The board of supervisors of any county and/or the mayor and board of commissioners of any city and/or the mayor and board of aldermen of any municipality in this state are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to expend out of any monies in their respective treasuries, to be drawn by warrant thereon, a sum or sums of money not exceeding a total of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) annually per Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) of the assessed valuation of the real and personal property thereof for the purpose of providing for the care, support and maintenance of homeless or destitute children of any county or municipality of this state who are supported, cared for, maintained and placed for adoption by any children's home society which operates over and serves the entire State of Mississippi, and which is approved and licensed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(2) The authority granted in this section is supplemental of and in addition to all existing authority for the expenditure of funds by such boards of supervisors and municipal governing authorities.

SECTION 58. Section 43-15-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-13. (1) For purposes of this section, "children" means persons found within the state who are under the age of twenty-one (21) years, and who were placed in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs by the youth court of the appropriate county.

(2) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall establish a foster care placement program for children whose custody lies with the department, with the following objectives:

(a) Protecting and promoting the health, safety and welfare of children;

(b) Preventing the unnecessary separation of children from their families by identifying family problems, assisting families in resolving their problems and preventing the breakup of the family where the prevention of child removal is desirable and possible when the child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health and safety;

(c) Remedying or assisting in the solution of problems which may result in the neglect, abuse, exploitation or delinquency of children;

(d) Restoring to their families children who have been removed, by the provision of services to the child and the families when the child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health and safety;

(e) Placing children in suitable adoptive homes approved by a licensed adoption agency or licensed social worker, in cases where restoration to the biological family is not safe, possible or appropriate;

(f) Assuring safe and adequate care of children away from their homes, in cases where the child cannot be returned home or cannot be placed for adoption. At the time of placement, the department shall implement concurrent planning, as described in subsection (8) of this section, so that permanency may occur at the earliest opportunity. Consideration of possible failure or delay of reunification should be given, to the end that the placement made is the best available placement to provide permanency for the child; and

(g) Providing a social worker or social work team for a family and child throughout the implementation of their permanent living arrangement plan. Wherever feasible, the same social worker or social work team shall remain on the case until the child is no longer under the jurisdiction of the youth court.

(3) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall administer a system of individualized plans and reviews once every six (6) months for each child under its custody within the State of Mississippi, each child who has been adjudged a neglected, abandoned or abused child and whose custody was changed by court order as a result of such adjudication, and each public or private facility licensed by the department. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs administrative review shall be completed on each child within the first three (3) months and a Foster Care Review once every six (6) months after the child's initial forty-eight (48) hours shelter hearing. Such system shall be for the purpose of enhancing potential family life for the child by the development of individual plans to return the child to its natural parent or parents, or to refer the child to the appropriate court for termination of parental rights and placement in a permanent relative's home, adoptive home or foster/adoptive home. The goal of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall be to return the child to its natural parent(s) or refer the child to the appropriate court for termination of parental rights and placement in a permanent relative's home, adoptive home or foster/adoptive home within the time periods specified in this subsection or in subsection (4) of this section. In furthering this goal, the department shall establish policy and procedures designed to appropriately place children in permanent homes, such policy to include a system of reviews for all children in foster care, as follows: foster care counselors in the department shall make all possible contact with the child's natural parent(s) and any interested relative for the first two (2) months following the child's entry into the foster care system. For any child who was in foster care before July 1, 1998, and has been in foster care for fifteen (15) of the last twenty-two (22) months regardless of whether the foster care was continuous for all of those twenty-two (22) months, the department shall file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child's parents. The time period starts to run from the date the court makes a finding of abuse and/or neglect or sixty (60) days from when the child was removed from his or her home, whichever is earlier. The department can choose not to file a termination of parental rights petition if the following apply:

(a) The child is being cared for by a relative; and/or

(b) The department has documented compelling and extraordinary reasons why termination of parental rights would not be in the best interests of the child.

(4) In the case of any child who is placed in foster care on or after July 1, 1998, except in cases of aggravated circumstances prescribed in Section 43-21-603(7)(c) or (d), the child's natural parent(s) will have a reasonable time to be determined by the court, which shall not exceed a six-month period of time, in which to meet the service agreement with the department for the benefit of the child unless the department has documented extraordinary and compelling reasons for extending the time period in the best interest of the child. If this agreement has not been satisfactorily met, simultaneously the child will be referred to the appropriate court for termination of parental rights and placement in a permanent relative's home, adoptive home or a foster/adoptive home. For children under the age of three (3) years, termination of parental rights shall be initiated within six (6) months, unless the department has documented compelling and extraordinary circumstances, and placement in a permanent relative's home, adoptive home or foster/adoptive home within two (2) months. For children who have been abandoned pursuant to the provisions of Section 97-5-1, termination of parental rights shall be initiated within thirty (30) days and placement in an adoptive home shall be initiated without necessity for placement in a foster home. The department need not initiate termination of parental rights proceedings where the child has been placed in durable legal custody or long-term or formalized foster care by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(5) The Foster Care Review once every six (6) months shall be conducted by the youth court or its designee(s), and/or by personnel within the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs or by a designee or designees of the department and may include others appointed by the department, and the review shall include at a minimum an evaluation of the child based on the following:

(a) The extent of the care and support provided by the parents or parent, while the child is in temporary custody;

(b) The extent of communication with the child by parents, parent or guardian;

(c) The degree of compliance by the agency and the parents with the social service plan established;

(d) The methods of achieving the goal and the plan establishing a permanent home for the child;

(e) Social services offered and/or utilized to facilitate plans for establishing a permanent home for the child; and

(f) Relevant testimony and recommendations from the foster parent of the child, the grandparents of the child, the guardian ad litem of the child, representatives of any private care agency which has cared for the child, the social worker assigned to the case, and any other relevant testimony pertaining to the case.

Each child's review plan once every six (6) months shall be filed with the court which awarded custody and shall be made available to natural parents or foster parents upon approval of the court. The court shall make a finding as to the degree of compliance by the agency and the parent(s) with the child's social service plan. The court also shall find that the child's health and safety are the paramount concern. In the interest of the child, the court shall, where appropriate, initiate proceedings on its own motion. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall report to the Legislature as to the number of such children, the findings of the foster care review board and relevant statistical information in foster care in a semi-annual report to the Legislature to be submitted to the Joint Oversight Committee of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs. The report shall not refer to the specific name of any child in foster care.

(6) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, with the cooperation and assistance of the State Department of Health, shall develop and implement a training program for foster care parents to indoctrinate them as to their proper responsibilities upon a child's entry into their foster care. The program shall provide a minimum of twelve (12) clock hours of training. The foster care training program shall be satisfactorily completed by such foster care parents prior to, or within ninety (90) days after child placement with such parent. Record of such foster care parent's training program participation shall be filed with the court as part of a foster care child's review plan once every six (6) months.

(7) When the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs is considering placement of a child in a foster home and when the department deems it to be in the best interest of the child, the department shall give first priority to placing the child in the home of one (1) of the child's relatives within the third degree, as computed by the civil law rule. In placing the child in a relative's home, the department may waive any rule, regulation or policy applicable to placement in foster care that would otherwise require the child to have a separate bed or bedroom or have a bedroom of a certain size, if placing the child in a relative's home would be in the best interest of the child and such requirements cannot be met in the relative's home.

(8) The Legislature recognizes that the best interests of the child require that the child be placed in the most permanent living arrangement as soon as is practicably possible. To achieve this goal, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs is directed to conduct concurrent planning so that a permanent living arrangement may occur at the earliest opportunity. Permanent living arrangements may include prevention of placement of a child outside the home of the family when the child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health or safety; reunification with the family, when safe and appropriate, if temporary placement is necessary; or movement of the child toward the most permanent living arrangement and permanent legal status. When a child is placed in foster care or relative care, the department shall first ensure and document that reasonable efforts were made to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the child's home. The department's first priority shall be to make reasonable efforts to reunify the family when temporary placement of the child occurs or shall request a finding from the court that reasonable efforts are not appropriate or have been unsuccessful. A decision to place a child in foster care or relative care shall be made with consideration of the child's health, safety and best interests. At the time of placement, consideration should also be given so that if reunification fails or is delayed, the placement made is the best available placement to provide a permanent living arrangement for the child. The department shall adopt rules addressing concurrent planning for reunification and a permanent living arrangement. The department shall consider the following factors when determining appropriateness of concurrent planning:

(a) The likelihood of prompt reunification;

(b) The past history of the family;

(c) The barriers to reunification being addressed by the family;

(d) The level of cooperation of the family;

(e) The foster parents' willingness to work with the family to reunite;

(f) The willingness and ability of the foster family or relative placement to provide an adoptive home or long-term placement;

(g) The age of the child; and

(h) Placement of siblings.

(9) If the department has placed a child in foster care or relative care pursuant to a court order, the department may not change the child's placement unless the department specifically documents to the court that the current placement is unsafe or unsuitable or that another placement is in the child's best interests unless the new placement is in an adoptive home or other permanent placement. Except in emergency circumstances as determined by the department or where the court orders placement of the child pursuant to Section 43-21-303, the foster parents, grandparents or other relatives of the child shall be given an opportunity to contest the specific reasons documented by the department at least seventy-two (72) hours prior to any such departure, and the court may conduct a review of such placement unless the new placement is in an adoptive home or other permanent placement. When a child is returned to foster care or relative care, the former foster parents or relative placement shall be given the prior right of return placement in order to eliminate additional trauma to the child.

(10) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall provide the foster parents, grandparents or other relatives with at least a seventy-two-hour notice of departure for any child placed in their foster care or relative care, except in emergency circumstances as determined by the department or where the court orders placement of the child pursuant to Section 43-21-303. The parent/legal guardian, grandparents of the child, guardian ad litem and the court exercising jurisdiction shall be notified in writing when the child leaves foster care or relative care placement, regardless of whether the child's departure was planned or unplanned. The only exceptions to giving a written notice to the parent(s) are when a parent has voluntarily released the child for adoption or the parent's legal rights to the child have been terminated through the appropriate court with jurisdiction.

(11) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall extend the following rights to foster care parents:

(a) A clear understanding of their role as foster parents and the roles of the birth parent(s) and the placement agency in respect to the child in care;

(b) Respect, consideration, trust and value as a family who is making an important contribution to the agency's objectives;

(c) Involvement in all the agency's crucial decisions regarding the foster child as team members who have pertinent information based on their day-to-day knowledge of the child in care;

(d) Support from the social worker in efforts to do a better day-to-day job in caring for the child and in working to achieve the agency's objectives for the child and the birth family through provision of:

(i) Pertinent information about the child and the birth family.

(ii) Help in using appropriate resources to meet the child's needs.

(iii) Direct interviews between the social worker and the child, previously discussed and understood by the foster parents.

(e) The opportunity to develop confidence in making day-to-day decisions in regard to the child;

(f) The opportunity to learn and grow in their vocation through planned foster parent education;

(g) The opportunity to be heard regarding agency practices that they may question; and

(h) Reimbursement for costs of the foster child's care in the form of a board payment based on the age of the foster child as prescribed in Section 43-15-17.

(12) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall require the following responsibilities from participating foster parents:

(a) Understanding the department's function in regard to the foster care program and related social service programs;

(b) Sharing with the department any information which may contribute to the care of foster children;

(c) Functioning within the established goals and objectives to improve the general welfare of the foster child;

(d) Recognizing the problems in foster home placement that will require professional advice and assistance and that such help should be utilized to its full potential;

(e) Recognizing that the foster family will be one of the primary resources for preparing a child for any future plans that are made, including return to birth parent(s), termination of parental rights or reinstitutionalization;

(f) Expressing their view of agency practices which relate to the foster child with the appropriate staff member;

(g) Understanding that all information shared with the foster parents about the child and his/her birth parent(s) must be held in the strictest of confidence;

(h) Cooperating with any plan to reunite the foster child with his birth family and work with the birth family to achieve this goal; and

(i) Attending dispositional review hearings and termination of parental rights hearings conducted by a court of competent jurisdiction, or providing their recommendations to the court in writing.

SECTION 59. Section 43-15-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-15. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall maintain a registry of children whose custody lies with them and private or public agencies licensed by the department. Said registry shall contain classifications of children as:

(a) Temporary custody for evaluation, not to exceed three (3) months;

(b) Temporary custody not to exceed one (1) year with the plan to return custody to the natural parents;

(c) Temporary custody, not to exceed two (2) years, with a plan to free for adoption;

(d) Children freed for adoption;

(e) Children ages fourteen (14) and above who have voluntarily chosen not to be adopted and cannot be returned to their own homes; and

(f) Children who are institutionalized and for whom placement in an adoptive home is not feasible.

SECTION 60. Section 43-15-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-17. (1) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs is authorized to make such payments as may be appropriate for supportive services to facilitate either the return of children to their natural parents or their adoption, depending upon and contingent upon the availability of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs securing or having sufficient funds to render this supportive service. Upon court order, the parent(s) shall be responsible for reimbursing the department for any foster care payments made on behalf of his or her child, based upon financial ability to pay, until such time as there is a termination of parental rights regarding the child, or the child is adopted.

(2) For those children placed in foster care by the state or county departments of children's affairs, the department shall make monthly payments for the support of these children's room and board, clothing, allowance and personal needs. From and after July 1, 1998, and subject to the availability of funds specifically appropriated therefor, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs' foster care and therapeutic care monthly payment schedule in effect prior to that date shall be increased by One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per month, with said minimum payment not to preclude the department from increasing payments in subsequent years as funds become available. From and after July 1, 1998, in order for foster parents to receive such monthly payments authorized under this subsection (2), the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall require foster care placements to be licensed as foster care homes and shall require prospective foster parents to satisfactorily complete an appropriate training program which emphasizes the goal of the foster care program to provide stable foster placement until a permanency outcome is achieved.

SECTION 61. Section 43-15-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-19. (1) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall maintain a Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange registry, which shall contain a total listing of all children freed for adoption as well as a listing of all persons who wish to adopt children and who are approved by a licensed adoption agency in the State of Mississippi. Said registry shall be distributed to all county children's affairs' directors and licensed adoption agencies within the state and shall be updated at least quarterly. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall establish regulations for listing descriptive characteristics while protecting the privacy of the children's names. Listed names shall be removed when adoption placement plans are made for a child or when a person withdraws an application for adoption.

(2) Adoptive parents shall be given the option of having their names placed in the registry. They shall be required to give written authority to the county * * * department of children's affairs to place their names in the registry and said authorization shall be forwarded to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, Division of Social Services, for approval.

SECTION 62. Section 43-15-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-23. (1) As used in this section the term "placing out" means to arrange for the free care of a child in a family, other than that of the child's parent, stepparent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt or legal guardian, for the purpose of adoption or for the purpose of providing care.

(2) No person, agency, association, corporation, institution, society or other organization, except a child placement agency licensed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs under Section 43-15-5, shall request, receive or accept any compensation or thing of value, directly or indirectly, for placing out of a child.

(3) No person shall pay or give any compensation or thing of value, directly or indirectly, for placing out of a child to any person, agency, association, corporation, institution, society or other organization except a child placement agency licensed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(4) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to (a) prevent the payment of salaries or other compensation by a child placement agency licensed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs to the officers or employees thereof; (b) prevent the payment of legal fees, which have been approved by the chancery court, to an attorney for services performed in regard to adoption proceedings; (c) prevent the payment of reasonable and actual medical fees or hospital charges for services rendered in connection with the birth or medical treatment of such child to the physician or hospital which rendered the services; or (d) prevent the receipt of such payments by such attorney, physician or hospital.

(5) Any person, agency, association, corporation, institution, society or other organization violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of illegal placement of children and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or by imprisonment not more than five (5) years, or both such fine and imprisonment.

SECTION 63. Section 43-15-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-103. As used in this chapter:

(a) "Agency" means a residential child-caring agency or a child-placing agency.

(b) "Child" or "children" mean(s) any unmarried person or persons under the age of eighteen (18) years.

(c) "Child placing" means receiving, accepting or providing custody or care for any child under eighteen (18) years of age, temporarily or permanently, for the purpose of:

(i) Finding a person to adopt the child;

(ii) Placing the child temporarily or permanently in a home for adoption; or

(iii) Placing a child in a foster home or residential child-caring agency.

(d) "Child-placing agency" means any entity or person which places children in foster boarding homes or foster homes for temporary care or for adoption or any other entity or person or group of persons who are engaged in providing adoption studies or foster care studies or placement services as defined by the rules of the department.

(e) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(f) "Director" means the Director of the Division of Family and Children's Services.

(g) "Division" means the Division of Family and Children's Services within the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(h) "Family boarding home" or "foster home" means a home (occupied residence) operated by any entity or person which provides residential child care to at least one (1) child but not more than six (6) children who are not related to the primary caregivers.

(i) "Group care home" means any place or facility operated by any entity or person which provides residential child care for at least seven (7) children but not more than twelve (12) children who are not related to the primary caregivers.

(j) "Licensee" means any person, agency or entity licensed under this chapter.

(k) "Maternity home" means any place or facility operated by any entity or person which receives, treats or cares for more than one (1) child or adult who is pregnant out of wedlock, either before, during or within two (2) weeks after childbirth; provided, that the licensed child-placing agencies and licensed maternity homes may use a family boarding home approved and supervised by the agency or home, as a part of their work, for as many as three (3) children or adults who are pregnant out of wedlock, and provided further, that the provisions of this definition shall not include children or women who receive maternity care in the home of a person to whom they are kin within the sixth degree of kindred computed according to civil law, nor does it apply to any maternity care provided by general or special hospitals licensed according to law and in which maternity treatment and care are part of the medical services performed and the care of children is brief and incidental.

(l) "Office" means the Office of Licensing within the Division of Family and Children's Services of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(m) "Person associated with a licensee" means an owner, director, member of the governing body, employee, provider of care and volunteer of a children's affairs licensee.

(n) "Related" means children, step-children, grandchildren, step-grandchildren, siblings of the whole or half-blood, step-siblings, nieces or nephews of the primary care provider.

(o) "Residential child care" means the provision of supervision, and/or protection, and meeting the basic needs of a child for twenty-four (24) hours per day, which may include services to children in a residential setting where care, lodging, maintenance and counseling or therapy for alcohol or controlled substance abuse or for any other emotional disorder or mental illness is provided for children, whether for compensation or not.

(p) "Residential child-caring agency" means any place or facility operated by any entity or person, public or private, providing residential child care, regardless of whether operated for profit or whether a fee is charged. Such residential child-caring agencies include, but are not limited to, maternity homes, runaway shelters, group homes that are administered by an agency, and emergency shelters that are not in private residence.

SECTION 64. Section 43-15-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-105. (1) The Division of Family and Children's Services of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall be the licensing authority for the department, and is vested with all the powers, duties and responsibilities described in this chapter. The division shall make and establish rules and regulations regarding:

(a) Approving, extending, denying, suspending and revoking licenses for foster homes, residential child-caring agencies and child-placing agencies;

(b) Conditional licenses, variances from department rules and exclusions;

(c) Basic health and safety standards for licensees; and

(d) Minimum administration and financial requirements for licensees.

(2) The division shall:

(a) Define information that shall be submitted to the division with an application for a license;

(b) Establish guidelines for the administration and maintenance of client and service records, including staff qualifications, staff to client ratios;

(c) Issue licenses in accordance with this chapter;

(d) Conduct surveys and inspections of licensees and facilities;

(e) Establish and collect licensure fees;

(f) Investigate complaints regarding any licensee or facility;

(g) Have access to all records, correspondence and financial data required to be maintained by a licensee or facility;

(h) Have authority to interview any client, family member of a client, employee or officer of a licensee or facility; and

(i) Have authority to revoke, suspend or extend any license issued by the division.

SECTION 65. Section 43-17-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-17-5. (1) The amount of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits which may be granted for any dependent child and a needy caretaker relative shall be determined by the county department with due regard to the resources and necessary expenditures of the family and the conditions existing in each case, and in accordance with the rules and regulations made by the Department of Human Services which shall not be less than the Standard of Need in effect for 1988, and shall be sufficient when added to all other income (except that any income specified in the federal Social Security Act, as amended, may be disregarded) and support available to the child to provide such child with a reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health. The first family member in the dependent child's budget may receive an amount not to exceed One Hundred Ten Dollars ($110.00) per month; the second family member in the dependent child's budget may receive an amount not to exceed Thirty-six Dollars ($36.00) per month; and each additional family member in the dependent child's budget an amount not to exceed Twenty-four Dollars ($24.00) per month. The maximum for any individual family member in the dependent child's budget may be exceeded for foster or medical care or in cases of mentally retarded or physically handicapped children. TANF benefits granted shall be specifically limited only (a) to children existing or conceived at the time the caretaker relative initially applies and qualifies for such assistance, unless this limitation is specifically waived by the department, or (b) to a child born following a twelve (12) consecutive-month period of discontinued benefits by the caretaker relative.

(2) TANF cash benefits in Mississippi shall be provided by monthly checks mailed to the recipient family until such time as an on-line electronic benefits transfer system for TANF benefit payments is implemented pursuant to Section 43-1-28.

(3) The Department of Human Services shall deny TANF benefits to the following categories of individuals, except for individuals and families specifically exempt or excluded for good cause as allowed by federal statute or regulation:

(a) Families without a minor child residing with the custodial parent or other adult caretaker relative of the child;

(b) Families which include an adult who has received TANF assistance for sixty (60) months after the commencement of the Mississippi TANF program, whether or not such period of time is consecutive;

(c) Families not assigning to the state any rights a family member may have, on behalf of the family member or of any other person for whom the family member has applied for or is receiving such assistance, to support from any other person, as required by law;

(d) Families who fail to cooperate in establishing paternity or obtaining child support, as required by law;

(e) Any individual who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age, is not married to the head of household, has a minor child at least twelve (12) weeks of age in his or her care, and has not successfully completed a high school education or its equivalent, if such individual does not participate in educational activities directed toward the attainment of a high school diploma or its equivalent, or an alternative educational or training program approved by the department;

(f) Any individual who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age, is not married, has a minor child in his or her care, and does not reside in a place or residence maintained by a parent, legal guardian or other adult relative or the individual as such parent's, guardian's or adult relative's own home;

(g) Any minor child who has been, or is expected by a parent or other caretaker relative of the child to be, absent from the home for a period of more than thirty (30) days;

(h) Any individual who is a parent or other caretaker relative of a minor child who fails to notify the department of the absence of the minor child from the home for the thirty-day period specified in paragraph (g), by the end of the five-day period that begins with the date that it becomes clear to the individual that the minor child will be absent for the thirty-day period;

(i) Any individual who fails to comply with the provisions of the Employability Development Plan signed by the individual which prescribe those activities designed to help the individual become and remain employed, or to participate satisfactorily in the assigned work activity, as authorized under subsection (6)(c);

(j) A parent or caretaker relative who has not engaged in an allowable work activity once the department determines the parent or caretaker relative is ready to engage in work, or once the parent or caretaker relative has received TANF assistance under the program for twenty-four (24) months, whether or not consecutive, whichever is earlier;

(k) Any individual who is fleeing to avoid prosecution, or custody or confinement after conviction, under the laws of the jurisdiction from which the individual flees, for a crime, or an attempt to commit a crime, which is a felony under the laws of the place from which the individual flees, or who is violating a condition of probation or parole imposed under federal or state law;

(l ) Aliens who are not qualified under federal law;

(m) For a period of ten (10) years following conviction, individuals convicted in federal or state court of having made a fraudulent statement or representation with respect to the individual's place of residence in order to receive TANF, food stamps or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) assistance under Title XVI or Title XIX simultaneously from two (2) or more states; and

(n) Individuals who are recipients of federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) assistance.

(4) (a) Any person who is otherwise eligible for TANF benefits, including custodial and noncustodial parents, shall be required to attend school and meet the monthly attendance requirement as provided in this subsection if all of the following apply:

(i) The person is under age twenty (20);

(ii) The person has not graduated from a public or private high school or obtained a GED equivalent;

(iii) The person is physically able to attend school and is not excused from attending school; and

(iv) If the person is a parent or caretaker relative with whom a dependent child is living, child care is available for the child.

The monthly attendance requirement under this subsection shall be attendance at the school in which the person is enrolled for each day during a month that the school conducts classes in which the person is enrolled, with not more than two (2) absences during the month for reasons other than the reasons listed in paragraph (e)(iv) of this subsection. Persons who fail to meet participation requirements in this subsection shall be subject to sanctions as provided in paragraph (f) of this subsection.

(b) As used in this subsection, "school" means any one (1) of the following:

(i) A school as defined in Section 37-13-91(2);

(ii) A vocational, technical and adult education program; or

(iii) A course of study meeting the standards established by the State Department of Education for the granting of a declaration of equivalency of high school graduation.

(c) If any compulsory-school-age child, as defined in Section 37-13-91(2), to which TANF eligibility requirements apply is not in compliance with the compulsory school attendance requirements of Section 37-13-91(6), the superintendent of schools of the school district in which the child is enrolled or eligible to attend shall notify the county department of human services of the child's noncompliance. The Department of Human Services shall review school attendance information as provided under this paragraph at all initial eligibility determinations and upon subsequent report of unsatisfactory attendance.

(d) The signature of a person on an application for TANF benefits constitutes permission for the release of school attendance records for that person or for any child residing with that person. The department shall request information from the child's school district about the child's attendance in the school district's most recently completed semester of attendance. If information about the child's previous school attendance is not available or cannot be verified, the department shall require the child to meet the monthly attendance requirement for one (1) semester or until the information is obtained. The department shall use the attendance information provided by a school district to verify attendance for a child. The department shall review with the parent or caretaker relative a child's claim that he or she has a good cause for not attending school.

A school district shall provide information to the department about the attendance of a child who is enrolled in a public school in the district within five (5) working days of the receipt of a written request for such information from the department. The school district shall define how many hours of attendance count as a full day and shall provide that information, upon request, to the department. In reporting attendance, the school district may add partial days' absence together to constitute a full day's absence.

(e) A child who is required to attend school to meet the requirements under this subsection shall comply except when there is good cause, which shall be demonstrated by any of the following circumstances:

(i) The minor parent is the caretaker of a child less than twelve (12) weeks old; or

(ii) The department determines that child care services are necessary for the minor parent to attend school and there is no child care available; or

(iii) The child is prohibited by the school district from attending school and an expulsion is pending. This exemption no longer applies once the teenager has been expelled; however, a teenager who has been expelled and is making satisfactory progress towards obtaining a GED equivalent shall be eligible for TANF benefits; or

(iv) The child failed to attend school for one or more of the following reasons:

1. Illness, injury or incapacity of the child or the minor parent's child;

2. Court-required appearances or temporary incarceration;

3. Medical or dental appointments for the child or minor parent's child;

4. Death of a close relative;

5. Observance of a religious holiday;

6. Family emergency;

7. Breakdown in transportation;

8. Suspension; or

9. Any other circumstance beyond the control of the child, as defined in regulations of the department.

(f) Upon determination that a child has failed without good cause to attend school as required, the department shall provide written notice to the parent or caretaker relative (whoever is the primary recipient of the TANF benefits) that specifies:

(i) That the family will be sanctioned in the next possible payment month because the child who is required to attend school has failed to meet the attendance requirement of this subsection;

(ii) The beginning date of the sanction, and the child to whom the sanction applies;

(iii) The right of the child's parents or caretaker relative (whoever is the primary recipient of the TANF benefits) to request a fair hearing under this subsection.

The child's parent or caretaker relative (whoever is the primary recipient of the TANF benefits) may request a fair hearing on the department's determination that the child has not been attending school. If the child's parents or caretaker relative does not request a fair hearing under this subsection, or if, after a fair hearing has been held, the hearing officer finds that the child without good cause has failed to meet the monthly attendance requirement, the department shall discontinue or deny TANF benefits to the child thirteen (13) years old, or older, in the next possible payment month. The department shall discontinue or deny twenty-five percent (25%) of the family grant when a child six (6) through twelve (12) years of age without good cause has failed to meet the monthly attendance requirement. Both the child and family sanction may apply when children in both age groups fail to meet the attendance requirement without good cause. A sanction applied under this subsection shall be effective for one (1) month for each month that the child failed to meet the monthly attendance requirement. In the case of a dropout, the sanction shall remain in force until the parent or caretaker relative provides written proof from the school district that the child has reenrolled and met the monthly attendance requirement for one (1) calendar month. Any month in which school is in session for at least ten (10) days during the month may be used to meet the attendance requirement under this subsection. This includes attendance at summer school. The sanction shall be removed the next possible payment month.

(5) All parents or caretaker relatives shall have their dependent children receive vaccinations and booster vaccinations against those diseases specified by the State Health Officer pursuant to Section 41-23-37 in accordance with the vaccination and booster vaccination schedule prescribed by the State Health Officer for children of that age, in order for the parents or caretaker relatives to be eligible or remain eligible to receive TANF benefits. Proof of having received such vaccinations and booster vaccinations shall be given by presenting the certificates of vaccination issued by any health care provider licensed to administer vaccinations, and submitted on forms specified by the State Board of Health. If the parents without good cause do not have their dependent children receive the vaccinations and booster vaccinations as required by this subsection and they fail to comply after thirty (30) days' notice, the department shall sanction the family's TANF benefits by twenty-five percent (25%) for the next payment month and each subsequent payment month until the requirements of this subsection are met.

(6) (a) If the parent or caretaker relative applying for TANF assistance is an employable person, as determined by the Department of Human Services, the person shall be required to engage in an allowable work activity once the department determines the parent or caretaker relative is ready to engage in work, or once the parent or caretaker relative has received TANF assistance under the program for twenty-four (24) months, whether or not consecutive, whichever is earlier. No TANF benefits shall be given to any person to whom this section applies who fails without good cause to comply with the Employability Development Plan prepared by the department for the person, or who has refused to accept a referral or offer of employment, training or education in which he or she is able to engage, subject to the penalties prescribed in subsection (6)(d). A person shall be deemed to have refused to accept a referral or offer of employment, training or education if he or she:

(i) Willfully fails to report for an interview with respect to employment when requested to do so by the department; or

(ii) Willfully fails to report to the department the result of a referral to employment; or

(iii) Willfully fails to report for allowable work activities as prescribed in subsection (6)(c).

(b) The Department of Human Services shall operate a statewide work program for TANF recipients to provide work activities and supportive services to enable families to become self-sufficient and improve their competitive position in the work force in accordance with the requirements of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193), as amended, and the regulations promulgated thereunder. All adults who are not specifically exempt shall be referred by the department for allowable work activities. An adult may be exempt from the mandatory work activity requirement for the following reasons:

(i) Incapacity;

(ii) Temporary illness or injury, verified by physician's certificate;

(iii) Is in the third trimester of pregnancy, verified by physician's certificate;

(iv) Caretaker of a child under twelve (12) months, for not more than twelve (12) months of the sixty-month maximum benefit period;

(v) Caretaker of an ill or incapacitated person, as verified by physician's certificate;

(vi) Age, if over sixty (60) or under eighteen (18) years of age;

(vii) Receiving treatment for substance abuse, if the person is in compliance with the substance abuse treatment plan;

(viii) In a two-parent family, the caretaker of a severely disabled child, as verified by a physician's certificate; or

(ix) History of having been a victim of domestic violence, which has been reported as required by state law and is substantiated by police reports or court records, and being at risk of further domestic violence, shall be exempt for a period as deemed necessary by the department but not to exceed a total of twelve (12) months, which need not be consecutive, in the sixty-month maximum benefit period. For the purposes of this subparagraph (ix), "domestic violence" means that an individual has been subjected to:

1. Physical acts that resulted in, or threatened to result in, physical injury to the individual;

2. Sexual abuse;

3. Sexual activity involving a dependent child;

4. Being forced as the caretaker relative of a dependent child to engage in nonconsensual sexual acts or activities;

5. Threats of, or attempts at, physical or sexual abuse;

6. Mental abuse; or

7. Neglect or deprivation of medical care.

(c) For all families, all adults who are not specifically exempt shall be required to participate in work activities for at least the minimum average number of hours per week specified by federal law or regulation, not fewer than twenty (20) hours per week (thirty-five (35) hours per week for two-parent families) of which are attributable to the following allowable work activities:

(i) Unsubsidized employment;

(ii) Subsidized private employment;

(iii) Subsidized public employment;

(iv) Work experience (including work associated with the refurbishing of publicly assisted housing), if sufficient private employment is not available;

(v) On-the-job training;

(vi) Job search and job readiness assistance consistent with federal TANF regulations;

(vii) Community service programs;

(viii) Vocational educational training (not to exceed twelve (12) months with respect to any individual);

(ix) The provision of child care services to an individual who is participating in a community service program;

(x) Satisfactory attendance at high school or in a course of study leading to a high school equivalency certificate, for heads of household under age twenty (20) who have not completed high school or received such certificate;

(xi) Education directly related to employment, for heads of household under age twenty (20) who have not completed high school or received such equivalency certificate.

The following are allowable work activities which may be attributable to hours in excess of the minimum specified above:

(i) Job skills training directly related to employment;

(ii) Education directly related to employment for individuals who have not completed high school or received a high school equivalency certificate;

(iii) Satisfactory attendance at high school or in a course of study leading to a high school equivalency, for individuals who have not completed high school or received such equivalency certificate;

(iv) Job search and job readiness assistance consistent with federal TANF regulations.

(d) If any adult or caretaker relative refuses to participate in allowable work activity as required under this subsection (6), the following full family TANF benefit penalty will apply, subject to due process to include notification, conciliation and a hearing if requested by the recipient:

(i) For the first violation, the department shall terminate the TANF assistance otherwise payable to the family for a two-month period or until the person has complied with the required work activity, whichever is longer;

(ii) For the second violation, the department shall terminate the TANF assistance otherwise payable to the family for a six-month period or until the person has complied with the required work activity, whichever is longer;

(iii) For the third violation, the department shall terminate the TANF assistance otherwise payable to the family for a twelve-month period or until the person has complied with the required work activity, whichever is longer;

(iv) For the fourth violation, the person shall be permanently disqualified.

For a two-parent family, unless prohibited by state or federal law, Medicaid assistance shall be terminated only for the person whose failure to participate in allowable work activity caused the family's TANF assistance to be sanctioned under this subsection (6)(d), unless an individual is pregnant, but shall not be terminated for any other person in the family who is meeting that person's applicable work requirement or who is not required to work. Minor children shall continue to be eligible for Medicaid benefits regardless of the disqualification of their parent or caretaker relative for TANF assistance under this subsection (6), unless prohibited by state or federal law.

(e) Any person enrolled in a two-year or four-year college program who meets the eligibility requirements to receive TANF benefits, and who is meeting the applicable work requirements and all other applicable requirements of the TANF program, shall continue to be eligible for TANF benefits while enrolled in the college program for as long as the person meets the requirements of the TANF program, unless prohibited by federal law.

(f) No adult in a work activity required under this subsection (6) shall be employed or assigned (i) when any other individual is on layoff from the same or any substantially equivalent job within six (6) months before the date of the TANF recipient's employment or assignment; or (ii) if the employer has terminated the employment of any regular employee or otherwise caused an involuntary reduction of its work force in order to fill the vacancy so created with an adult receiving TANF assistance. The Mississippi Employment Security Commission, established under Section 71-5-101, shall appoint one or more impartial hearing officers to hear and decide claims by employees of violations of this paragraph (f). The hearing officer shall hear all the evidence with respect to any claim made hereunder and such additional evidence as he may require and shall make a determination and the reason therefor. The claimant shall be promptly notified of the decision of the hearing officer and the reason therefor. Within ten (10) days after the decision of the hearing officer has become final, any party aggrieved thereby may secure judicial review thereof by commencing an action, in the circuit court of the county in which the claimant resides, against the commission for the review of such decision, in which action any other party to the proceeding before the hearing officer shall be made a defendant. Any such appeal shall be on the record which shall be certified to the court by the commission in the manner provided in Section 71-5-531, and the jurisdiction of the court shall be confined to questions of law which shall render its decision as provided in that section.

(7) The Department of Human Services may provide child care for eligible participants who require such care so that they may accept employment or remain employed. The department may also provide child care for those participating in the TANF program when it is determined that they are satisfactorily involved in education, training or other allowable work activities. The department may contract with Head Start agencies to provide child care services to TANF recipients. The department may also arrange for child care by use of contract or vouchers, provide vouchers in advance to a caretaker relative, reimburse a child care provider, or use any other arrangement deemed appropriate by the department, and may establish different reimbursement rates for child care services depending on the category of the facility or home. Any center-based or group home child care facility under this subsection shall be licensed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs pursuant to law. When child care is being provided in the child's own home, in the home of a relative of the child, or in any other unlicensed setting, the provision of such child care may be monitored on a random basis by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs. Transitional child care assistance may be continued if it is necessary for parents to maintain employment once support has ended, unless prohibited under state or federal law. Transitional child care assistance may be provided for up to twenty-four (24) months after the last month during which the family was eligible for TANF assistance, if federal funds are available for such child care assistance.

(8) The Department of Human Services may provide transportation or provide reasonable reimbursement for transportation expenses that are necessary for individuals to be able to participate in allowable work activity under the TANF program.

(9) Medicaid assistance shall be provided to a family of TANF program participants for up to twenty-four (24) consecutive calendar months following the month in which the participating family would be ineligible for TANF benefits because of increased income, expiration of earned income disregards, or increased hours of employment of the caretaker relative; however, Medicaid assistance for more than twelve (12) months may be provided only if a federal waiver is obtained to provide such assistance for more than twelve (12) months and federal and state funds are available to provide such assistance.

(10) The department shall require applicants for and recipients of public assistance from the department to sign a personal responsibility contract that will require the applicant or recipient to acknowledge his or her responsibilities to the state.

(11) The department shall enter into an agreement with the State Personnel Board and other state agencies that will allow those TANF participants who qualify for vacant jobs within state agencies to be placed in state jobs. State agencies participating in the TANF work program shall receive any and all benefits received by employers in the private sector for hiring TANF recipients. This subsection (11) shall be effective only if the state obtains any necessary federal waiver or approval and if federal funds are available therefor.

(12) No new TANF program requirement or restriction affecting a person's eligibility for TANF assistance, or allowable work activity, which is not mandated by federal law or regulation may be implemented by the Department of Human Services after the effective date of this act, unless such is specifically authorized by an amendment to this section by the Legislature.

SECTION 66. Section 43-18-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-18-5. As used in paragraph (a) of Article V of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, the phrase "appropriate authority in the receiving state" with reference to this state shall mean the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs or * * * any county department of children's affairs.

SECTION 67. Section 43-21-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-105. The following words and phrases, for purposes of this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly otherwise requires:

(a) "Youth court" means the Youth Court Division.

(b) "Judge" means the judge of the Youth Court Division.

(c) "Designee" means any person that the judge appoints to perform a duty which this chapter requires to be done by the judge or his designee. The judge may not appoint a person who is involved in law enforcement to be his designee.

(d) "Child" and "youth" are synonymous, and each means a person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. A child who has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for a branch of the armed services or is married is not considered a "child" or "youth" for the purposes of this chapter.

(e) "Parent" means the father or mother to whom the child has been born, or the father or mother by whom the child has been legally adopted.

(f) "Guardian" means a court-appointed guardian of the person of a child.

(g) "Custodian" means any person having the present care or custody of a child whether such person be a parent or otherwise.

(h) "Legal custodian" means a court-appointed custodian of the child.

(i) "Delinquent child" means a child who has reached his tenth birthday and who has committed a delinquent act or, while being required to attend an alternative school program provided under Section 37-13-92, willfully and habitually absents himself therefrom.

(j) "Delinquent act" is any act, which if committed by an adult, is designated as a crime under state or federal law, or municipal or county ordinance other than offenses punishable by life imprisonment or death. A delinquent act includes escape from lawful detention and violations of the Mississippi School Compulsory Attendance Law, violations of the Uniform Controlled Substances Law and violent behavior.

(k) "Child in need of supervision" means a child who has reached his seventh birthday and is in need of treatment or rehabilitation because the child:

(i) Is habitually disobedient of reasonable and lawful commands of his parent, guardian or custodian and is ungovernable; or

(ii) While being required to attend school, willfully and habitually violates the rules thereof or willfully and habitually absents himself therefrom; or

(iii) Runs away from home without good cause; or

(iv) Has committed a delinquent act or acts.

(l) "Neglected child" means a child:

(i) Whose parent, guardian or custodian or any person responsible for his care or support, neglects or refuses, when able so to do, to provide for him proper and necessary care or support, or education as required by law, or medical, surgical, or other care necessary for his well-being; provided, however, a parent who withholds medical treatment from any child who in good faith is under treatment by spiritual means alone through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof shall not, for that reason alone, be considered to be neglectful under any provision of this chapter; or

(ii) Who is otherwise without proper care, custody, supervision or support; or

(iii) Who, for any reason, lacks the special care made necessary for him by reason of his mental condition, whether said mental condition be mentally retarded or mentally ill; or

(iv) Who, for any reason, lacks the care necessary for his health, morals or well-being.

(m) "Abused child" means a child whose parent, guardian or custodian or any person responsible for his care or support, whether legally obligated to do so or not, has caused or allowed to be caused upon said child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, emotional abuse, mental injury, nonaccidental physical injury or other maltreatment. Provided, however, that physical discipline, including spanking, performed on a child by a parent, guardian or custodian in a reasonable manner shall not be deemed abuse under this section.

(n) "Sexual abuse" means obscene or pornographic photographing, filming or depiction of children for commercial purposes, or the rape, molestation, incest, prostitution or other such forms of sexual exploitation of children under circumstances which indicate that the child's health or welfare is harmed or threatened.

(o) "A child in need of special care" means a child with any mental or physical illness that cannot be treated with the dispositional alternatives ordinarily available to the youth court.

(p) A "dependent child" means any child who is not a child in need of supervision, a delinquent child, an abused child or a neglected child, and which child has been voluntarily placed in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs by his parent, guardian or custodian.

(q) "Custody" means the physical possession of the child by any person.

(r) "Legal custody" means the legal status created by a court order which gives the legal custodian the responsibilities of physical possession of the child and the duty to provide him with food, shelter, education and reasonable medical care, all subject to residual rights and responsibilities of the parent or guardian of the person.

(s) "Detention" means the care of children in physically restrictive facilities.

(t) "Shelter" means care of children in physically nonrestrictive facilities.

(u) "Records involving children" means any of the following from which the child can be identified:

(i) All youth court records as defined in Section 43-21-251;

(ii) All social records as defined in Section 43-21-253;

(iii) All law enforcement records as defined in Section 43-21-255;

(iv) All agency records as defined in Section 43-21-257; and

(v) All other documents maintained by any representative of the state, county, municipality or other public agency insofar as they relate to the apprehension, custody, adjudication or disposition of a child who is the subject of a youth court cause.

(v) "Any person responsible for care or support" means the person who is providing for the child at a given time. This term shall include, but is not limited to, stepparents, foster parents, relatives, nonlicensed babysitters or other similar persons responsible for a child and staff of residential care facilities and group homes that are licensed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(w) The singular includes the plural, the plural the singular and the masculine the feminine when consistent with the intent of this chapter.

(x) "Out-of-home" setting means the temporary supervision or care of children by the staff of licensed day care centers, the staff of public, private and state schools, the staff of juvenile detention facilities, the staff of unlicensed residential care facilities and group homes and the staff of, or individuals representing, churches, civic or social organizations.

(y) "Durable legal custody" means the legal status created by a court order which gives the durable legal custodian the responsibilities of physical possession of the child and the duty to provide him with care, nurture, welfare, food, shelter, education and reasonable medical care. All these duties as enumerated are subject to the residual rights and responsibilities of the natural parent(s) or guardian(s) of the child or children.

SECTION 68. Section 43-21-257, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-257. (1) Unless otherwise provided in this section, any record involving children, including valid and invalid complaints, and the contents thereof maintained by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, or any other state agency, shall be kept confidential and shall not be disclosed except as provided in Section 43-21-261.

(2) The Division of Youth Services shall maintain a state central registry containing the number and disposition of all cases together with such other useful information regarding such cases as may be requested and is obtainable from the records of the youth court. The Division of Youth Services shall annually publish a statistical record of the number and disposition of all cases, but the names or identity of any children shall not be disclosed in the reports or records. The Division of Youth Services shall adopt such rules as may be necessary to carry out this subsection. The central registry files and the contents thereof shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection. Any person who shall disclose or encourage the disclosure of any record involving children from the central registry shall be subject to the penalty in Section 43-21-267. The youth court shall furnish, upon forms provided by the Division of Youth Services, the necessary information, and these completed forms shall be forwarded to the Division of Youth Services.

(3) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall maintain a state central registry on neglect and abuse cases containing (a) the name, address and age of each child, (b) the nature of the harm reported, (c) the name and address of the person responsible for the care of the child, and (d) the name and address of the substantiated perpetrator of the harm reported. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall adopt such rules and administrative procedures, especially those procedures to afford due process to individuals who have been named as substantiated perpetrators prior to the release of their name from the registry, as may be necessary to carry out this subsection. The central registry shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection. Any person who shall disclose or encourage the disclosure of any record involving children from the central registry without following the rules and administrative procedures of the department shall be subject to the penalty in Section 43-21-267. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs and its employees are hereby exempt from any civil liability as a result of any action taken pursuant to the compilation and/or release of information on the registry pursuant to this section and any other applicable section of the code.

(4) The Mississippi State Department of Health may release the findings of investigations into allegations of abuse within licensed day care centers made under the provisions of Section 43-21-353(8) to any parent of a child who is enrolled in the day care center at the time of the alleged abuse or at the time the request for information is made. The findings of any such investigation may also be released to parents who are considering placing children in the day care center. No information concerning such investigations may contain the names or identifying information of individual children.

The Department of Health shall not be held civilly liable for the release of information on any findings, recommendations or actions taken pursuant to investigations of abuse that have been conducted pursuant to Section 43-21-353(8).

SECTION 69. Section 43-21-261, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-261. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, records involving children shall not be disclosed, other than to necessary staff of the youth court, except pursuant to an order of the youth court specifying the person or persons to whom the records may be disclosed, the extent of the records which may be disclosed and the purpose of the disclosure. Such court orders for disclosure shall be limited to those instances in which the youth court concludes, in its discretion, that disclosure is required for the best interests of the child, the public safety or the functioning of the youth court and then only to the following persons:

(a) The judge of another youth court or member of another youth court staff;

(b) The court of the parties in a child custody or adoption cause in another court;

(c) A judge of any other court or members of another court staff;

(d) Representatives of a public or private agency providing supervision or having custody of the child under order of the youth court;

(e) Any person engaged in a bona fide research purpose, provided that no information identifying the subject of the records shall be made available to the researcher unless it is absolutely essential to the research purpose and the judge gives prior written approval, and the child, through his or her representative, gives permission to release the information;

(f) The Mississippi Employment Security Commission, or its duly authorized representatives, for the purpose of a child's enrollment into the Job Corps Training Program as authorized by Title IV of the Comprehensive Employment Training Act of 1973 (29 USCS Section 923 et seq.). However, no records, reports, investigations or information derived therefrom pertaining to child abuse or neglect shall be disclosed; and

(g) To any person pursuant to a finding by a judge of the youth court of compelling circumstances affecting the health or safety of a child and that such disclosure is in the best interests of the child.

Law enforcement agencies may disclose information to the public concerning the taking of a child into custody for the commission of a delinquent act without the necessity of an order from the youth court. The information released shall not identify the child or his address unless the information involves a child convicted as an adult.

(2) Any records involving children which are disclosed under an order of the youth court and the contents thereof shall be kept confidential by the person or agency to whom the record is disclosed except as provided in the order. Any further disclosure of any records involving children shall be made only under an order of the youth court as provided in this section.

(3) Upon request, the parent, guardian or custodian of the child who is the subject of a youth court cause or any attorney for such parent, guardian or custodian, shall have the right to inspect any record, report or investigation which is to be considered by the youth court at a hearing, except that the identity of the reporter shall not be released, nor the name of any other person where the person or agency making the information available finds that disclosure of the information would be likely to endanger the life or safety of such person.

(4) Upon request, the child who is the subject of a youth court cause shall have the right to have his counsel inspect and copy any record, report or investigation which is filed with the youth court.

(5) (a) The youth court prosecutor or prosecutors, the county attorney, the district attorney, the youth court defender or defenders, or any attorney representing a child shall have the right to inspect any law enforcement record involving children.

(b) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall disclose to a county prosecuting attorney or district attorney any and all records resulting from an investigation into suspected child abuse or neglect when the case has been referred by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs to the county prosecuting attorney or district attorney for criminal prosecution.

(c) Agency records made confidential under the provisions of this section may be disclosed to a court of competent jurisdiction.

(6) Information concerning an investigation into a report of child abuse or child neglect may be disclosed by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs without order of the youth court to any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, child care giver, minister, law enforcement officer, public or private school employee making that report pursuant to Section 43-21-353(1) if the reporter has a continuing professional relationship with the child and a need for such information in order to protect or treat the child.

(7) Information concerning an investigation into a report of child abuse or child neglect may be disclosed without further order of the youth court to any interagency child abuse task force established in any county or municipality by order of the youth court of that county or municipality.

(8) Names and addresses of juveniles twice adjudicated as delinquent for an act which would be a felony if committed by an adult or for the unlawful possession of a firearm shall not be held confidential and shall be made available to the public.

(9) Names and addresses of juveniles adjudicated as delinquent for murder, manslaughter, burglary, arson, armed robbery, aggravated assault, any sex offense as defined in Section 45-33-23, for any violation of Section 41-29-139(a)(1) or for any violation of Section 63-11-30, shall not be held confidential and shall be made available to the public.

(10) The judges of the circuit and county courts, and presentence investigators for the circuit courts, as provided in Section 47-7-9, shall have the right to inspect any youth court records of a person convicted of a crime for sentencing purposes only.

(11) The victim of an offense committed by a child who is the subject of a youth court cause shall have the right to be informed of the child's disposition by the youth court.

(12) The Classification Committee of the State Department of Corrections, as provided in Section 47-5-103, shall have the right to inspect any youth court records, excluding abuse and neglect records, of any offender in the custody of the department who as a child or minor was a juvenile offender or was the subject of a youth court cause of action, and the State Parole Board, as provided in Section 47-7-17, shall have the right to inspect such records when said offender becomes eligible for parole.

(13) The youth court shall notify the Department of Public Safety of the name, and any other identifying information such department may require, of any child who is adjudicated delinquent as a result of a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Law.

(14) The Administrative Office of Courts shall have the right to inspect any youth court records in order that the number of youthful offenders, abused, neglected, truant and dependent children, as well as children in need of special care and children in need of supervision, may be tracked with specificity through the youth court and adult justice system, and to utilize tracking forms for such purpose.

(15) Upon a request by a youth court, the Administrative Office of Courts shall disclose all information at its disposal concerning any previous youth court intakes alleging that a child was a delinquent child, child in need of supervision, child in need of special care, truant child, abused child or neglected child, as well as any previous youth court adjudications for the same and all dispositional information concerning a child who at the time of such request comes under the jurisdiction of the youth court making such request.

(16) In every case where an abuse or neglect allegation has been made, the confidentiality provisions of this section shall not apply to prohibit access to a child's records by any state regulatory agency, any state or local prosecutorial agency or law enforcement agency; provided, however, that no identifying information concerning the child in question may be released to the public by such agency except as otherwise provided herein.

(17) In every case where there is any indication or suggestion of either abuse or neglect and a child's physical condition is medically labeled as medically "serious" or "critical" or a child dies, the confidentiality provisions of this section shall not apply.

(18) Any member of a foster care review board designated by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall have the right to inspect youth court records relating to the abuse, neglect or child in need of supervision cases assigned to such member for review.

(19) Information concerning an investigation into a report of child abuse or child neglect may be disclosed without further order of the youth court in any administrative or due process hearing held, pursuant to Section 43-21-257, by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs for individuals whose names will be placed on the central registry as substantiated perpetrators.

SECTION 70. Section 43-21-315, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-315. (1) The youth court shall, by general order or rule of court, designate the available detention or shelter facilities to which children shall be delivered when taken into custody. Copies of the order or rule shall be made available to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs and all law enforcement agencies within the territorial jurisdiction of the youth court.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, unless jurisdiction is transferred, no child shall be placed in any jail or place of detention of adults by any person or court unless the child shall be physically segregated from other persons not subject to the jurisdiction of the youth court and the physical arrangement of such jail or place of detention of adults prevents such child from having substantial contact with and substantial view of such other persons; but in any event, the child shall not be confined anywhere in the same cell with persons not subject to the jurisdiction of the youth court. Any order placing a child into custody shall comply with the detention requirements provided in Section 43-21-301(6). This subsection shall not be construed to apply to commitments to the training school under Section 43-21-605(1)(g)(iii).

(3) Any child who is charged with a hunting or fishing violation, a traffic violation, or any other criminal offense for which the youth court shall have power on its own motion to remove jurisdiction from any criminal court, may be detained only in the same facilities designated by the youth court for children within the jurisdiction of the youth court.

(4) After a child is ordered into custody, the youth court may arrange for the custody of the child with any private institution or agency caring for children, may commit the child to the Department of Mental Health pursuant to Section 41-21-61 et seq., or may order the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs or any other public agency to provide for the custody, care and maintenance of such child. Provided, however, that the care, custody and maintenance of such child shall be within the statutory authorization and the budgetary means of such institution or facility.

SECTION 71. Section 43-21-353, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-353. (1) Any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, child care giver, minister, law enforcement officer, public or private school employee or any other person having reasonable cause to suspect that a child is a neglected child or an abused child, shall cause an oral report to be made immediately by telephone or otherwise and followed as soon thereafter as possible by a report in writing to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, and immediately a referral shall be made by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs to the youth court intake unit, which unit shall promptly comply with Section 43-21-357. Where appropriate, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall additionally make a referral to the youth court prosecutor. Upon receiving a report that a child has been sexually abused, or burned, tortured, mutilated or otherwise physically abused in such a manner as to cause serious bodily harm, or upon receiving any report of abuse that would be a felony under state or federal law, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall immediately notify the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred and shall notify the appropriate prosecutor within forty-eight (48) hours, and the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall have the duty to provide the law enforcement agency all the names and facts known at the time of the report; this duty shall be of a continuing nature. The law enforcement agency and the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall investigate the reported abuse immediately and shall file a preliminary report with the appropriate prosecutor's office within twenty-four (24) hours and shall make additional reports as new or additional information or evidence becomes available. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall advise the clerk of the youth court and the youth court prosecutor of all cases of abuse reported to the department within seventy-two (72) hours and shall update such report as information becomes available.

(2) Any report to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall contain the names and addresses of the child and his parents or other persons responsible for his care, if known, the child's age, the nature and extent of the child's injuries, including any evidence of previous injuries and any other information that might be helpful in establishing the cause of the injury and the identity of the perpetrator.

(3) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall maintain a statewide incoming wide-area telephone service or similar service for the purpose of receiving reports of suspected cases of child abuse; provided that any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, child care giver, minister, law enforcement officer or public or private school employee who is required to report under subsection (1) of this section shall report in the manner required in subsection (1).

(4) Reports of abuse and neglect made under this chapter and the identity of the reporter are confidential except when the court in which the investigation report is filed, in its discretion, determines the testimony of the person reporting to be material to a judicial proceeding or when the identity of the reporter is released to law enforcement agencies and the appropriate prosecutor pursuant to subsection (1). Reports made under this section to any law enforcement agency or prosecutorial officer are for the purpose of criminal investigation and prosecution only and no information from these reports may be released to the public except as provided by Section 43-21-261. Disclosure of any information by the prosecutor shall be according to the Mississippi Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Procedure. The identity of the reporting party shall not be disclosed to anyone other than law enforcement officers or prosecutors without an order from the appropriate youth court. Any person disclosing any reports made under this section in a manner not expressly provided for in this section or Section 43-21-261, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties prescribed by Section 43-21-267.

(5) All final dispositions of law enforcement investigations described in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the appropriate prosecutor or court. All final dispositions of investigations by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs as described in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the youth court. Reports made under subsection (1) of this section by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs to the law enforcement agency and to the district attorney's office shall include the following, if known to the department:

(a) The name and address of the child;

(b) The names and addresses of the parents;

(c) The name and address of the suspected perpetrator;

(d) The names and addresses of all witnesses, including the reporting party if a material witness to the abuse;

(e) A brief statement of the facts indicating that the child has been abused and any other information from the agency files or known to the social worker making the investigation, including medical records or other records, which may assist law enforcement or the district attorney in investigating and/or prosecuting the case; and

(f) What, if any, action is being taken by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs.

(6) In any investigation of a report made under this chapter of the abuse or neglect of a child as defined in Section 43-21-105(m), the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs may request the appropriate law enforcement officer with jurisdiction to accompany the department in its investigation, and in such cases the law enforcement officer shall comply with such request.

(7) Anyone who willfully violates any provision of this section shall be, upon being found guilty, punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by imprisonment in jail not to exceed one (1) year, or both.

(8) If a report is made directly to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs that a child has been abused or neglected in an out-of-home setting, a referral shall be made immediately to the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred and the department shall notify the district attorney's office within forty-eight (48) hours of such report. The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall investigate the out-of-home setting report of abuse or neglect to determine whether the child who is the subject of the report, or other children in the same environment, comes within the jurisdiction of the youth court and shall report to the youth court the department's findings and recommendation as to whether the child who is the subject of the report or other children in the same environment require the protection of the youth court. The law enforcement agency shall investigate the reported abuse immediately and shall file a preliminary report with the district attorney's office within forty-eight (48) hours and shall make additional reports as new information or evidence becomes available. If the out-of-home setting is a licensed facility, an additional referral shall be made by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs to the licensing agency. The licensing agency shall investigate the report and shall provide the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, the law enforcement agency and the district attorney's office with their written findings from such investigation as well as that licensing agency's recommendations and actions taken.

SECTION 72. Section 43-21-354, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-354. The statewide incoming wide-area telephone service established pursuant to Section 43-21-353, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be maintained by the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, or its successor, on a twenty-four-hour seven (7) days a week basis.

SECTION 73. Section 43-21-357, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-357. (1) After receiving a report, the youth court intake unit shall promptly make a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the interest of the child, other children in the same environment or the public requires the youth court to take further action. As part of the preliminary inquiry, the youth court intake unit may request or the youth court may order the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, the Division of Youth Services, any successor agency or any other qualified public employee to make an investigation or report concerning the child and any other children in the same environment, and present the findings thereof to the youth court intake unit. If the youth court intake unit receives a neglect or abuse report, the youth court intake unit shall immediately forward the complaint to the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs to promptly make an investigation or report concerning the child and any other children in the same environment and promptly present the findings thereof to the youth court intake unit. If it appears from the preliminary inquiry that the child or other children in the same environment are within the jurisdiction of the court, the youth court intake unit shall recommend to the youth court:

(a) That the youth court take no action;

(b) That an informal adjustment be made;

(c) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, monitor the child, family and other children in the same environment;

(d) That the child is warned or counseled informally; or

(e) That a petition be filed.

(2) The youth court shall then, without a hearing:

(a) Order that no action be taken;

(b) Order that an informal adjustment be made;

(c) Order that the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, Division of Family and Children Services, monitor the child, family and other children in the same environment;

(d) Order that the child is warned or counseled informally; or

(e) Order that a petition be filed.

(3) If the preliminary inquiry discloses that a child needs emergency medical treatment, the judge may order the necessary treatment.

SECTION 74. Section 43-21-405, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-405. (1) The informal adjustment process shall be initiated with an informal adjustment conference conducted by an informal adjustment counselor appointed by the judge or his designee.

(2) If the child and his parent, guardian or custodian appear at the informal adjustment conference without counsel, the informal adjustment counselor shall, at the commencement of the conference, inform them of their right to counsel, the child's right to appointment of counsel and the right of the child to remain silent. If either the child or his parent, guardian or custodian indicates a desire to be represented by counsel, the informal adjustment counselor shall adjourn the conference to afford an opportunity to secure counsel.

(3) At the beginning of the informal adjustment conference, the informal adjustment counselor shall inform the child and his parent, guardian or custodian:

(a) That information has been received concerning the child which appears to establish jurisdiction of the youth court;

(b) The purpose of the informal adjustment conference;

(c) That during the informal adjustment process no petition will be filed;

(d) That the informal adjustment process is voluntary with the child and his parent, guardian or custodian and that they may withdraw from the informal adjustment at any time; and

(e) The circumstances under which the informal adjustment process can be terminated under Section 43-21-407.

(4) The informal adjustment counselor shall then discuss with the child and his parent, guardian or custodian:

(a) Recommendations for actions or conduct in the interest of the child to correct the conditions of behavior or environment which may exist;

(b) Continuing conferences and contacts with the child and his parent, guardian or custodian by the informal adjustment counselor or other authorized persons; and

(c) The child's general behavior, his home and school environment and other factors bearing upon the proposed informal adjustment.

(5) After the parties have agreed upon the appropriate terms and conditions of informal adjustment, the informal adjustment counselor and the child and his parent, guardian or custodian shall sign a written informal adjustment agreement setting forth the terms and conditions of the informal adjustment. The informal adjustment agreement may be modified at any time upon the consent of all parties to the informal adjustment conference.

(6) The informal adjustment process shall not continue beyond a period of six (6) months from its commencement unless extended by the youth court for an additional period not to exceed six (6) months by court authorization prior to the expiration of the original six-month period. In no event shall the custody or supervision of a child which has been placed with the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs be continued or extended except upon a written finding by the youth court judge or referee that reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the child within his own home, but that the circumstances warrant his removal and there is no reasonable alternative to custody, and that reasonable efforts will continue to be made towards reunification of the family.

SECTION 75. Section 43-21-603, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-603. (1) At the beginning of each disposition hearing, the judge shall inform the parties of the purpose of the hearing.

(2) All testimony shall be under oath unless waived by all parties and may be in narrative form. The court may consider any evidence which is material and relevant to the disposition of the cause, including hearsay and opinion evidence. At the conclusion of the evidence, the youth court shall give the parties an opportunity to present oral argument.

(3) If the child has been adjudicated a delinquent child, prior to entering a disposition order, the youth court should consider, among others, the following relevant factors:

(a) The nature of the offense;

(b) The manner in which the offense was committed;

(c) The nature and number of a child's prior adjudicated offenses; and

(d) The child's need for care and assistance.

(4) If the child has been adjudicated a child in need of supervision, prior to entering a disposition order, the youth court should consider, among others, the following relevant factors:

(a) The nature and history of the child's conduct;

(b) The family and home situation; and

(c) The child's need of care and assistance.

(5) If the child has been adjudicated a neglected child or an abused child, prior to entering a disposition order, the youth court shall consider, among others, the following relevant factors:

(a) The child's physical and mental conditions;

(b) The child's need of assistance;

(c) The manner in which the parent, guardian or custodian participated in, tolerated or condoned the abuse, neglect or abandonment of the child;

(d) The ability of a child's parent, guardian or custodian to provide proper supervision and care of a child; and

(e) Relevant testimony and recommendations, where available, from the foster parent of the child, the grandparents of the child, the guardian ad litem of the child, representatives of any private care agency which has cared for the child, the social worker assigned to the case, and any other relevant testimony pertaining to the case.

(6) After consideration of all the evidence and the relevant factors, the youth court shall enter a disposition order which shall not recite any of the facts or circumstances upon which such disposition is based, nor shall it recite that a child has been found guilty; but it shall recite that a child is found to be a delinquent child, a child in need of supervision, a neglected child or an abused child.

(7) In the event that the youth court orders that the custody or supervision of a child who has been adjudicated abused or neglected be placed with the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs or any other person or public or private agency, other than the child's parent, guardian or custodian, the youth court shall find and the disposition order shall recite that:

(a) (i) Reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the child within his own home, but that the circumstances warrant his removal and there is no reasonable alternative to custody; or

(a) (ii) The circumstances are of such an emergency nature that no reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the child within his own home, and that there is no reasonable alternative to custody; and

(b) That the effect of the continuation of the child's residence within his own home would be contrary to the welfare of the child and that the placement of the child in foster care is in the best interests of the child; or

(c) Reasonable efforts to maintain the child within his home shall not be required if the court determines that:

(i) The parent has subjected the child to aggravated circumstances including, but not limited to, abandonment, torture, chronic abuse and sexual abuse; or

(ii) The parent has been convicted of murder of another child of such parent, voluntary manslaughter of another child of such parent, aided or abetted, attempted, conspired or solicited to commit such murder or voluntary manslaughter, or a felony assault that results in the serious bodily injury to the surviving child or another child of such parent; or

(iii) The parental rights of the parent to a sibling have been terminated involuntarily; and

(iv) That the effect of the continuation of the child's residence within his own home would be contrary to the welfare of the child and that placement of the child in foster care is in the best interests of the child.

Once the reasonable efforts requirement is bypassed, the court shall have a permanency hearing pursuant to Section 43-21-613 within thirty (30) days of such finding.

(8) Upon a written motion by a party, the youth court shall make written findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which it relies for the disposition order.

SECTION 76. Section 43-21-605, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-605. (1) In delinquency cases, the disposition order may include any of the following alternatives:

(a) Release the child without further action;

(b) Place the child in the custody of the parents, a relative or other persons subject to any conditions and limitations, including restitution, as the youth court may prescribe;

(c) Place the child on probation subject to any reasonable and appropriate conditions and limitations, including restitution, as the youth court may prescribe;

(d) Order terms of treatment calculated to assist the child and the child's parents or guardian which are within the ability of the parent or guardian to perform;

(e) Order terms of supervision which may include participation in a constructive program of service or education or civil fines not in excess of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or restitution not in excess of actual damages caused by the child to be paid out of his own assets or by performance of services acceptable to the victims and approved by the youth court and reasonably capable of performance within one (1) year;

(f) Suspend the child's driver's license by taking and keeping it in custody of the court for not more than one (1) year;

(g) Give legal custody of the child to any of the following:

(i) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs for appropriate placement; or

(ii) Any public or private organization, preferably community-based, able to assume the education, care and maintenance of the child, which has been found suitable by the court; or

(iii) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs for placement in a wilderness training program or a state-supported training school, except that no child under the age of ten (10) years shall be committed to a state training school. The training school may retain custody of the child until the child's twentieth birthday but for no longer. The superintendent of a state training school may parole a child at any time he may deem it in the best interest and welfare of such child. Twenty (20) days prior to such parole, the training school shall notify the committing court of the pending release. The youth court may then arrange subsequent placement after a reconvened disposition hearing except that the youth court may not recommit the child to the training school or any other secure facility without an adjudication of a new offense or probation or parole violation. Prior to assigning the custody of any child to any private institution or agency, the youth court through its designee shall first inspect the physical facilities to determine that they provide a reasonable standard of health and safety for the child. The youth court shall not place a child in the custody of a state training school for truancy, unless such child has been adjudicated to have committed an act of delinquency in addition to truancy;

(h) Recommend to the child and the child's parents or guardian that the child attend and participate in the Youth Challenge Program under the Mississippi National Guard, as created in Section 43-27-203, subject to the selection of the child for the program by the National Guard; however, the child must volunteer to participate in the program. The youth court may not order any child to apply or attend the program;

(i) (i) Adjudicate the juvenile to the Statewide Juvenile Work Program if the program is established in the court's jurisdiction. The juvenile and his parents or guardians must sign a waiver of liability in order to participate in the work program. The judge will coordinate with the youth services counselors as to placing participants in the work program;

(ii) The severity of the crime, whether or not the juvenile is a repeat offender or is a felony offender will be taken into consideration by the judge when adjudicating a juvenile to the work program. The juveniles adjudicated to the work program will be supervised by police officers or reserve officers. The term of service will be from twenty-four (24) to one hundred twenty (120) hours of community service. A juvenile will work the hours to which he was adjudicated on the weekends during school and week days during the summer. Parents are responsible for a juvenile reporting for work. Noncompliance with an order to perform community service will result in a heavier adjudication. A juvenile may be adjudicated to the community service program only two (2) times;

(iii) The judge shall assess an additional fine on the juvenile which will be used to pay the costs of implementation of the program and to pay for supervision by police officers and reserve officers. The amount of the fine will be based on the number of hours to which the juvenile has been adjudicated;

(j) Order the child to participate in a youth court work program as provided in Section 43-21-627; or

(k) Order the child into a juvenile detention center operated by the county or into a juvenile detention center operated by any county with which the county in which the court is located has entered into a contract for the purpose of housing delinquents. The time period for such detention cannot exceed ninety (90) days. The youth court judge may order that the number of days specified in the detention order be served either throughout the week or on weekends only.

(2) In addition to any of the disposition alternatives authorized under subsection (1) of this section, the disposition order in any case in which the child is adjudicated delinquent for an offense under Section 63-11-30 shall include an order denying the driver's license and driving privileges of the child as required under subsection (8) of Section 63-11-30.

(3) Fines levied under this chapter shall be paid into the general fund of the county but, in those counties wherein the youth court is a branch of the municipal government, it shall be paid into the municipal treasury.

(4) Any institution or agency to which a child has been committed shall give to the youth court any information concerning the child as the youth court may at any time require.

(5) The youth court shall not place a child in another school district who has been expelled from a school district for the commission of a violent act. For the purpose of this subsection, "violent act" means any action which results in death or physical harm to another or an attempt to cause death or physical harm to another.

SECTION 77. Section 43-21-607, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-607. In children in need of supervision cases, the disposition order may include any of the following alternatives or combination of the following alternatives, giving precedence in the following sequence:

(a) Release the child without further action;

(b) Place the child in the custody of the parent, a relative or other person subject to any conditions and limitations as the youth court may prescribe;

(c) Place the child under youth court supervision subject to any conditions and limitations the youth court may prescribe;

(d) Order terms of treatment calculated to assist the child and the child's parent, guardian or custodian which are within the ability of the parent, guardian or custodian to perform;

(e) Order terms of supervision which may include participation in a constructive program of service or education or restitution not in excess of actual damages caused by the child to be paid out of his own assets or by performance of services acceptable to the parties and reasonably capable of performance within one (1) year;

(f) Give legal custody of the child to any of the following but in no event to any state training school;

(i) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs for appropriate placement which may include a wilderness training program; or

(ii) Any private or public organization, preferably community-based, able to assume the education, care and maintenance of the child, which has been found suitable by the court. Prior to assigning the custody of any child to any private institution or agency, the youth court through its designee shall first inspect the physical facilities to determine that they provide a reasonable standard of health and safety for the child; or

(g) Order the child to participate in a youth court work program as provided in Section 43-21-627.

SECTION 78. Section 43-21-609, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-609. In neglect and abuse cases, the disposition order may include any of the following alternatives, giving precedence in the following sequence:

(a) Release the child without further action;

(b) Place the child in the custody of his parents, a relative or other person subject to any conditions and limitations as the court may prescribe. If the court finds that temporary relative placement, adoption or foster care placement is inappropriate, unavailable or otherwise not in the best interest of the child, durable legal custody may be granted by the court to any person subject to any limitations and conditions the court may prescribe; such durable legal custody will not take effect unless the child or children have been in the physical custody of the proposed durable custodians for at least one (1) year under the supervision of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs. The requirements of Section 43-21-613 as to disposition review hearings does not apply to those matters in which the court has granted durable legal custody. In such cases, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall be released from any oversight or monitoring responsibilities;

(c) Order terms of treatment calculated to assist the child and the child's parent, guardian or custodian which are within the ability of the parent, guardian or custodian to perform;

(d) Order youth court personnel, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs or child care agencies to assist the child and the child's parent, guardian or custodian to secure social or medical services to provide proper supervision and care of the child;

(e) Give legal custody of the child to any of the following but in no event to any state training school:

(i) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs for appropriate placement; or

(ii) Any private or public organization, preferably community-based, able to assume the education, care and maintenance of the child, which has been found suitable by the court. Prior to assigning the custody of any child to any private institution or agency, the youth court through its designee shall first inspect the physical facilities to determine that they provide a reasonable standard of health and safety for the child.

SECTION 79. Section 43-21-613, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-613. (1) If the youth court finds, after a hearing which complies with the sections governing adjudicatory hearings, that the terms of a delinquency or child in need of supervision disposition order, probation or parole have been violated, the youth court may, in its discretion, revoke the original disposition and make any disposition which it could have originally ordered. The hearing shall be initiated by the filing of a petition which complies with the sections governing petitions in this chapter and which includes a statement of the youth court's original disposition order, probation or parole, the alleged violation of that order, probation or parole, and the facts which show the violation of that order, probation or parole. Summons shall be served in the same manner as summons for an adjudicatory hearing.

(2) On motion of a child or a child's parent, guardian or custodian, the youth court may, in its discretion, conduct an informal hearing to review the disposition order. If the youth court finds a material change of circumstances relating to the disposition of the child, the youth court may modify the disposition order to any appropriate disposition of equal or greater precedence which the youth court could have originally ordered.

(3) (a) Unless the youth court's jurisdiction has been terminated, all disposition orders for supervision, probation or placement of a child with an individual or an agency shall be reviewed by the youth court judge or referee at least annually to determine if continued placement, probation or supervision is in the best interest of the child or the public. For children who have been adjudicated abused or neglected, the youth court shall conduct a permanency hearing within twelve (12) months after the earlier of:

(i) An adjudication that the child has been abused or neglected; or

(ii) Sixty (60) days from the child's removal from the allegedly abusive or neglectful custodian/parent. Notice of such hearing shall be given in accordance with the provisions of Section 43-21-505(5). In conducting the hearing, the judge or referee may require a written report, information or statements from the child's youth court counselor, parent, guardian or custodian which includes, but is not limited to, an evaluation of the child's progress and recommendations for further supervision or treatment. The judge or referee shall, at the permanency hearing determine the future status of the child, including, but not limited to, whether the child should be returned to the parent(s) or placed with suitable relatives, placed for adoption, placed for the purpose of establishing durable legal custody or should, because of the child's special needs or circumstances, be continued in foster care on a permanent or long-term basis. If the child is in an out-of-state placement, the hearing shall determine whether the out-of-state placement continues to be appropriate and in the best interest of the child. The judge or referee may find that reasonable efforts to maintain the child within his home shall not be required in accordance with Section 43-21-603(7)(c).

(b) The court may find that the filing of a termination of parental rights petition is not in the child's best interest if:

(i) The child is being cared for by a relative; and/or

(ii) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs has documented compelling and extraordinary reasons why termination of parental rights would not be in the best interests of the child.

(c) (i) In the event that the youth court either orders or continues the custody or supervision of a child to be placed with the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs or any other person or public or private agency, other than the child's parent, guardian or custodian, unless the reasonable efforts requirement is bypassed under Section 43-21-603(7)(c), the youth court shall find and the order shall recite that the effect of the continuation of the child's residence within his own home would be contrary to the welfare of the child and that placement or continued placement of the child in foster care is in the best interest of the child, and that:

1. Reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the child within his own home, but that the circumstances warrant his removal and there is no reasonable alternative to custody; or

2. The circumstances are of such an emergency nature that no reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the child within his own home, and that there is no reasonable alternative to custody.

(ii) The youth court also shall find and the order shall recite that:

1. Reasonable efforts were made to reunify the child safely with his family if the removal could not be prevented; or

2. If reasonable efforts were not made to prevent the child's removal from home or to reunify the child with his family, that reasonable efforts are or were not required; or

3. If the permanent plan for the child is adoption, guardianship, or some other permanent living arrangement other than reunification, that reasonable efforts were made to make and finalize that alternate permanent placement.

(d) The provisions of this subsection shall also apply to review of cases involving a dependent child; however, such reviews shall take place not less frequently than once each one hundred eighty (180) days. A dependent child shall be ordered by the youth court judge or referee to be returned to the custody and home of the child's parent, guardian or custodian unless the judge or referee, upon such review, makes a written finding that the return of the child to the home would be contrary to the child's best interests.

(e) Reviews are not to be conducted unless explicitly ordered by the youth court concerning those cases in which the court has granted durable legal custody. In such cases, the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall be released from any oversight or monitoring responsibilities.

SECTION 80. Section 43-21-623, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-623. Any juvenile who is adjudicated a delinquent on or after July 1, 1994, as a result of committing a sex offense as defined in Section 45-33-23 or any offense involving the crime of rape and placed in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs, Division of Youth Services, shall be tested for HIV and AIDS. Such tests shall be conducted by the State Department of Health in conjunction with the Division of Youth Services, Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs at the request of the victim or the victim's parents or guardian if the victim is a juvenile. The results of any positive HIV or AIDS tests shall be reported to the victim or the victim's parents or guardian if the victim is a juvenile as well as to the adjudicated offender. The State Department of Health shall provide counseling and referral to appropriate treatment for victims of a sex offense when the adjudicated offender tested positive for HIV or AIDS if the victim so requests.

SECTION 81. Section 43-21-625, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-21-625. (1) The Mississippi Department of Children's Affairs shall develop and implement a wilderness training program for first time youth offenders sentenced or classified as delinquency cases or as children in need of supervision.

(2) The program shall include supervised camping trips, calisthenics, manual labor assignments, physical training with obstacle courses, training in decision-making and personal development and drug counseling and rehabilitation programs.

(3) The department shall adopt rules requiring that wilderness training participants complete a structured disciplinary program and allowing for a restriction on general inmate population privileges.

(4) Upon receipt of youth offenders, the department shall screen offenders for the wilderness training program. To participate, an offender must have no physical limitations which would preclude participation in strenuous activity, must not be impaired and must not have been previously incarcerated in a state or federal correctional facility. In screening offenders for the wilderness training program, the department shall consider the offender's criminal history and the possible rehabilitative benefits of the program. If an offender meets the specified criteria and space is available, the department shall request in writing from the sentencing court, approval to participate in the wilderness training program. If the person is classified by the court as a delinquent or child in need of supervision and the department is requesting approval from the sentencing court for placement in the program, the department shall, at the same time, notify the prosecuting attorney that the offender is being considered for placement in the wilderness training program. The notice shall explain that the purpose of such placement is diversion from lengthy incarceration when a wilderness training program could produce the same deterrent effect, and that the person given notice may, within fourteen (14) days of the mailing of the notice, notify the sentencing court in writing of objections, if any, to the placement of the offender in the wilderness training program. The sentencing court shall notify the department in writing of placement approval no later than twenty-one (21) days after receipt of the department's request for placement of the youthful offender in the wilderness training program. Failure to notify the department within twenty-one (21) days shall be considered an approval by the sentencing court for placing the youthful offender in the wilderness training program. The offices of the prosecuting attorneys may develop procedures for notifying each victim that the offender is being considered for placement in the wilderness training program.

(5) The program shall provide a period of rigorous training to offenders who require a greater degree of supervision than community control or probation provides. Wilderness training programs may be operated in secure areas in or adjacent to adult institutions or in any area approved by the department. The program is not intended to divert offenders away from probation or community control but to divert them from long periods of incarceration when a wilderness training program could produce the same deterrent effect.

(6) If an offender in the wilderness training program becomes unmanageable, the department may place him in an appropriate facility to complete the remainder of his sentence. Any period of time in which the offender is unable to participate in the wilderness training program activities may be excluded from the specified time requirements in the program. The portion of the sentence served prior to placement in the wilderness training program shall not be counted toward program completion. Upon the offender's completion of the wilderness training program, the department shall submit a report to the court that describes the offender's performance. If the offender's performance has been satisfactory, the court shall issue an order modifying the sentence imposed and placing the offender on probation. If the offender violates the conditions of probation, the court may revoke probation and impose any sentence which it might have originally imposed.

(7) The department shall provide a special training program for staff selected for the wilderness training program.

(8) The department is authorized to contract with any private or public nonprofit organization or entity to carry out the purpose of this section.

SECTION 82. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2002; provided, however, that Section 1 of this act relating to an orderly transition, and Sections 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 of this act, which contain the automatic repealer on those statutes creating the Department of Human Services, shall take effect and be in force from and after passage.